Grow Clinton has given the 2023 Grow Clinton Community Impact Award to United Way of Clinton County.
The United Way chapter serves 20 agencies in the Clinton region, each representing one of the United Way’s three pillars: education, health and wellness, and financial stability.
Each spring, agencies apply for funding and the Citizen’s Review Committee (a volunteer panel of community leaders) listens to each agency present on their mission, operations, and how they will use their funding. The committee evaluates and determines the funding for each agency.
United Way runs a fundraising campaign through the fall and winter. In 2023, the goal is to raise $350,000. According to a recent ALICE (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed) survey, 38% of families in Clinton County are living paycheck to paycheck, says a Tuesday release from Grow Clinton.
Through the work of the 20 agencies, the United Way aims to help the ALICE families in Clinton County. This means that families can receive food, health care, sheltering, childcare, help getting to summer camp, and a book every month before pre-school.
In the summer of 2022, United Way, along with the Sawmill Museum and the Paul B Sharar Foundation, held the first Clinton County Non-Profit Summit. The goal was to connect all of the non-profits in Clinton County to promote collaboration.
Connect Clinton County has been formed to continue these efforts. Quarterly summits will continue to be held to look for opportunities for area nonprofits to collaborate.
Before the start of the school year in 2022, the idea was formed to combine all the school supply drives in the county into one drive. As the ideas for this project came together, the question was asked if the county could raise enough supplies so that every elementary student in the county could get their supplies right to their classroom. This evolved into the School Supply Project.
Throughout 2023, United Way worked with other non-profits to get supplies and money donated, plus work on the logistics of storing, sorting, and delivering supplies for almost three-thousand students in Clinton County. For weeks in the summer, United Way parked a bus in front of Wal-Mart to Pack the Bus with donations.
“During the week before school started, volunteers sorted and delivered supplies to classrooms at ten Clinton County elementary schools, showing that when everyone works together, anything can be accomplished,” Chelsi Cornelius, United Way office manager said in Tuesday’s release. “Next year’s School Supply Project is already being planned.”
United Way’s largest fundraising annual event is Fork Some Pork, held every October and hosted at the Clysar Pavilion, Camanche. The pork is seasoned and smoked for 24 hours by a cook team from Lyondell-Basel.
Lunch is a pork sandwich, beans, and chips. Lunches can be eaten at the Clysar Pavilion or delivered to local businesses. Fork Some Pork for 2023 will be held Oct. 20, 2023.
“The United Way is the fundraising spine for our community. As we continue to strengthen the United Way our community will also grow stronger,” said Andy Green, executive director of United Way of Clinton County.
The United Way mission is to unite people and resources to build a stronger community to advance the common good. They are located at 405 S. 3rd Street in the US Bank building. To learn more about the United Way, call 563-242-1209.
