Dear Supporter,
As we navigate the uncertainty and volatility of this public health crisis, one thing holds true now more than ever: we are all in this together. Along with our dedicated supporters, United Way of Northern New York remains committed to our community, our partners and our mission to improve the lives of all residents of Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence Counties.
During this unparalleled moment in history, we are strengthening our commitment to address the immediate and urgent needs of all North Country residents — as well as longer-term challenges that will affect education, income and health outcomes across our community. We are maintaining high situational awareness on each community’s needs, with respect to food, transportation, cleaning essentials, financial assistance, paper products and more. Based on needs and priorities, we can surge funding quickly to where it is needed most on a given day.
This week, we launched the United Way of Northern New York Crisis Fund to support this critical work.
The populations we serve are those most vulnerable to economic downturns and health crises. The fund will address current community impact concerns including:
- Shortage of supplies to meet basic health and safety needs (paper goods, hand sanitizer, cleaning products, diapers, baby formula and healthy foods);
- Extended closures of school, childcare and after school programs, impacting children’s access to breakfast and lunch programs and parents’ ability to work; and
- Immediate economic impact for many workers, particularly in the service, retail and travel industries.
Our organization will continue to work with community leaders, including the Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence County governments, school districts and our service partners to identify resource and service gaps and plan for long-term recovery.
Thank you for being champions for the thousands of individuals and families you help United Way serve. Our mission and our belief in the power of unity are more important today than they have ever been. We will thrive as a community by confronting this challenge together and taking care of one another. We hope you will consider a personal or corporate donation to the fund.
Wishing you good health, safety and peace.
