BROOKINGS Brookings Area United Way is closing in on a milestone, seeking for the first time to bring in $1.2 million in donations to help the local community.
Executive Director Heidi Gullickson said they exceeded expectations during last years fundraising drive.
Last years goal was $950,000 and we raised just over $1 million, she said. Our financial goal this year was $1.2 million, which is an ambitious target, but one that does reflect the full scope of the requests that we get.
They currently support 38 local agencies.
The funds just go so many places to fill gaps for so many organizations, Gullickson said. Some of them are like the larger organizations that most people are familiar with, like our Boys & Girls Club, Brookings Area Transit Authority, Margos Place which is the new name for the domestic abuse shelter then the Brookings County Food Pantry and the Backpack Program. And then theres a handful of smaller ones that are run by just volunteers or a one-person staff that people maybe just arent aware of unless theyve needed some assistance. Some of those include the My Neighbor Program, the Brookings Arts Councils Art Factory we help to fund those.
She said one out of three people are impacted by the United Way.
Some of the programs are for folks who are experiencing a crisis, while some of them are proactive programs, Gullickson said. Were all one day away from an accident or an illness, and that can really disrupt a familys plans and financials and just everything. Many of our programs are there to step in when that happens.
Gullickson said their board of directors looked at local needs when calculating this years goal.
The board really looked at do we set a goal we think we can easily reach or do we set a goal based on what the need really is, she said. The dollar amount represents the ask from the agencies. They fill out a funding request grant application each year. Then we also include the running of the United Way organization and the programs the dental van, the imagination library all those programs that we run internally.
She said 99% of the money raised remains in the local community.
Its raised here; it stays here, Gullickson said. One percent does go to our national organization, which then connects us into being able to use their resources, their expertise and all of those kinds of things. But we arent, you know, sending money off to some CEOs salary.
She said they took a similar approach to funding their own building.
We just moved in during January of 2023, Gullickson said. Im very proud of this building that we have now. We were able to make this happen with all grant money, so no local dollars had to be used. And to be able to now have a safe, secure permanent location for the food pantry and the backpack project I think is just a huge thing for those two organizations as well as the United Way. I really see this as a community building, and so our conference rooms are available for different groups and organizations to use.
She encouraged folks to learn more and make a donation through the website https://brookingsunitedway.org.
On our website, we do have all of our partners listed. Then it kind of tells what the dollars are used for within those organizations, Gullickson said. You can do a credit card donation, you can even do Venmo as well. And folks can always give us a call at 605-692-4979 On the website, they can set up to do a monthly donation with their credit card, as like a set it and forget it thing.
The current fundraising drive wraps up Jan. 31.
I want to make sure people understand how grateful we are, Gullickson said.
There is always more need. So if people want to be able to make an impact, I feel like donating to the United Way is a great way to do that because it can go directly where a need is We all want Brookings to remain not just as great as it is but also to even get better.
Contact Jay Roe at [email protected].
Leave a Reply