(Photo | Pexels)
United Way of Deschutes County has begun 2020 with two very different ways for donors to give back to our Central Oregon Community.
On February 12, United Way of Deschutes County (UWDC) held its first-ever gift card drive – collecting over $1,000 in gas and grocery gift cards from guests attending the Valentine’s Day-themed reception and raffling them off to three lucky winners among their grant-funded Community Impact Partner nonprofit organizations: KIDS Center, Boys & Girls Clubs of Bend and Back Door Cafe were first, second and third place winners respectively. Event sponsors included HydroFlask, 3rd Street Beverage, 10 Barrel Brewing Company, AVID Cider Company, Caboost Kombucha, Strictly Organic Coffee, Say Cheese catering and NewsChannel21 Cares for Kids.
On Friday, February 28, at the Selco Community Credit Union — United Way Radiothon, the local nonprofit will be raising funds to fight for the health, education, financial stability and resilience of every person in our Central Oregon community.
DJs from Horizon Broadcasting Group radio stations KQAK 105.7 and The Peak 104.1 will be broadcasting live from M. Jacobs Fine Furniture, located at 2994 O.B. Riley Road in Bend 6 am to 6 pm. Radio listeners can donate to the cause by calling 541.389.6507, texting “UWDC” to 91999 from their cell phones, online at www.deschutesunitedway.org, or by stopping by M. Jacobs in person. The Radiothon is also sponsored by Avion Water Co., Republic Services, Central Electric Co-op and Columbia Bank. Plus, Sherpa Wealth Strategies, LLC has offered a $1,000 challenge match, and members of the UWDC Board of Directors have offered up an additional $700 challenge match. This means donors can double their impact by donating through Radiothon.
Funds raised during the Radiothon will support the nonprofit’s focus on reducing childhood trauma and building resilient individuals, families and community. Programming over the day will focus on that work, as well as UWDC’s work on local challenges such as access to basic needs (like food, shelter and healthcare), safety, childhood development, childhood trauma, homelessness, food security, housing, child care, health services, mentoring and foster care.
United Way of Deschutes County is focused on fixing imbalances for today’s kids so that when they are tomorrow’s adults, they can thrive. Together with its 26 nonprofit partners, 100 corporate partners and nearly 2,500 donors, UWDC helps 27 percent of Central Oregonians.
UWDC is also the backbone organization for the TRACEs collective action social movement working to improve health and wellbeing in our region through building resilience in individuals, families and our community. In this capacity, the organization helps to guide, support, advance and fund this amazing region-wide effort.
UWDC is a local fundraiser and a local funder. The money they raise here, stays right here and serves this community.
