United Way Neepawa makes final grant distribution
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- Published on Thursday, March 31, 2016
Photo by Kate Jackman-Atkinson. Back row (from left): Arleigh Wilson, Maxine Schminke, Karen Peto, John LoRegio, Susan Cable, Ron Fisher. Front row (from left): Jodie Byram, Mary Ellen Clark, Lisa Pottinger and Pauline Zygaldo.
By Kate Jackman-Atkinson
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
It was a bittersweet day, as 12 organizations providing services in the Neepawa area came to accept their last grant from the Neepawa and District United Way on March 23. After more than 30 years in the community, the organization’s board made the difficult decision to close down the branch.
Executive director Jodie Byram explained that the organization was faced with declining donations and fewer volunteers. Their six person board was down to four members and they no longer had the volunteer capacity to conduct their door-to-door canvas. The organization was also facing rising costs, including additional fees to United Way Canada as well as a more stringent, and expensive, audit procedure. “It wasn’t an easy decision,” said Byram.
For many organizations, the United Way grants represented an important part of their annual budget. Without UW, Byram said, “We have to try to encourage people to keep donating in the community,” adding that it might be through donations directly to organizations or another option.
In total, 12 organizations applied for funding and each of them received a grant. As each of the organizations’ representatives came to accept their cheques, they spoke about what the money would be used for and thanked the Neepawa and District United Way for their support over the years.
Lisa Pottinger, who accepted on behalf of Arthritis Society, said that Neepawa UW had donated $40,000 to the organization over 20 years. She added that the funding allows them to operate a 1-800 information line and last year, helped them put on a full day Pain Buster workshop. John LoRegio, representing the Canadian Diabetes Association, thanked the organization for its support. Ron Fisher, an ambassador for CNIB, explained that each donation helps them provide assistance to not just the completely blind, but also the visually impaired. Maxine Schminke accepted on behalf of the Canadian Red Cross and explained that they are revamping their disaster management services and can now offer assistance for personal disasters, such as a house fire. Susan Cable, of Child and Family Services Westman, said that the donation will help with their family strengthening activities, which help parents meets the needs of their families and keep their family together. She added that they have one such course coming up in the Neepawa area. Pauline Zygaldo, representing the Handi-Van, thanked the United Way for their previous support of the service, which provides transportation to seniors and the disabled in and out of town. She added, “We will really miss [the grant].” Mary Ellen Clark, representing Neepawa Palliative Care, said that the grant goes to support their services, which provide comfort to the terminally ill and their families. Arleigh Wilson, of Touchwood Park, said that they have been a partner of Neepawa UW since the beginning. “It’s with great respect and gratitude, we thank the current and past staff and volunteers,” she said. Karen Peto, of the Young Women Christian Association of Brandon, said that grant helps them operate a 21 bed transitional housing facility, a 24 bed women’s shelter and a 12 bed emergency shelter, all of which serve Westman. She too thanked the Neepawa UW for their support saying, “The impact should not be underestimated.” Lisa Pottinger, who also accepted on behalf of HAND, said that this year, the money will help make their office more accessible with the purchase and installation of an automatic door. In past years, the money has been used to help them promote their programs, which have served 1,500 clients.
Representatives of Westlake Employment Skills and Services and Kidney Foundation were unable to attend.
Byram wrapped up by saying, “We’re proud of what you’ve done and we hope the work continues… It’s important to keep the organizations going and the money local.”
Once the grants were distributed, discussion turned to new ways to support local organizations, with much of the discussion focussing on the idea of running a Donors’ Choice campaign. Such campaigns have been running successfully in other Manitoba communities.
With Donors’ Choice, there is one mass canvass for donations and donors can select which of the participating organizations they want to receive their donation. For example, a donor could give $100 and might designate that $50 go to HAND and $50 to the Handi-Van. Each of the participating organizations are responsible for supplying a certain number of canvassers. A couple of grant recipients participated in this programs in other communities and spoke highly of it as a good way to raise money for local organizations.
