April 2020
Friday, April 24
Harley-Davidson encourages riders to support United Way
Longtime United Way partner Harley-Davidson Motor Company is encouraging their riders to support United Way’s COVID-19 relief efforts both locally and nationwide.
Says Harley-Davidson on their website: “United Way is committed to standing with our communities and supporting those impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. If you can afford to donate, the gift will contribute to those in need.”
Thank you, Harley-Davidson, for your continued partnership and support of our community!
Learn more and donate here.
Thursday, April 23
Volunteers needed! Join the movement to #MaskUpMKE
In this moment of unprecedented need, our community has set a goal: Create 3.5 million no-sew masks for local healthcare providers and other essential service workers.
Volunteers are invited to pick up a mask kit from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, take the kit home to assemble the no-sew masks, then return the assembled masks to Fiserv Forum.
To learn more and sign up, click here.
Green Bay Packers to Raise Funds for United Way during NFL Draft-A-Thon
The Green Bay Packers announced they will raise funds and create awareness for United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County as part of the National Football League’s virtual Draft-A-Thon, a three-day virtual fundraiser to support those impacted by the coronavirus.
Fans are encouraged to donate online from April 23-25 at NFL.com/relief.
Listen now: Amy Lindner interviewed on Nonprofit Vision Podcast
Our President & CEO Amy Lindner was recently interviewed by Gregory Nielsen for his Nonprofit Vision podcast, which spotlights current issues in nonprofit leadership. Amy talked about United Way’s response to the increased needs of our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen here.
Watch now: Amy Lindner interviewed for Milwaukee Magazine
Our President & CEO Amy Lindner was recently interviewed by Milwaukee Magazine Editor and Publisher Carole Nicksin to discuss how United Way and partners are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Check out the conversation here.
Your United Way donation qualifies for new tax incentives
Under the CARES Act, donors to United Way are eligible for new tax deductions even if they take the standard deduction. Learn more and donate today!
Volunteers help United Way partner engage isolated seniors
With support from United Way, more than 170 volunteers are making weekly wellness calls to more than 1,500 isolated local seniors and adults with disabilities. Volunteers not only socialize over the phone with these isolated individuals, but check to make sure they have the resources they need to stay healthy and safe.
Feeling inspired? While this opportunity has enough volunteers, consider making masks for healthcare and other essential workers or checking out other urgent volunteer needs page.
Wednesday, April 22
Thank you Healthcare Heroes
Monday, April 20
How your donations help YMCA at Pabst Farms
Thursday, April 16
Philanthropic Partners
Our nonprofit partners who are serving our community need support to continue to provide essential services. A group of philanthropic organizations came together and formed a coordinated approach to identifying greatest needs and quickly activating funding support and volunteer resources for maximum community impact. This compliments and elevates the work of all of the committed partners.
If you’d like to donate, consider giving a gift to:
Wednesday, April 15
City Year Milwaukee on how your donations help
Monday, April 13
Milwaukee Christian Center sent a video on how your donations helped
Sigma Phi Delta MU writing notes of encouragement for healthcare heroes
This weekend Sigma Phi Delta got on a zoom call to brainstorm collective messages to heatlhcare heroes through this link.
Thursday, April 9
Local artists, getting involved
Small businesses and artists are looking for a way to get involved and make an impact. Local artist Rachal Dugan, RADillustrates, took part in the virtual Come Together Makers' Market last weekend and donated 40% of her proceeds to the COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund. Thank you for your contribution!
Monday, April 6
Volunteer from home with these 5 fun ideas
With children now temporarily out of school, an at-home service project can be a great addition to your day’s activities. Make a difference while staying safely at home with these fun ideas.
Read the blog.
Monday, April 6
Hundreds of meals donated
Thanks to donations to United Way's COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund, Hope House in Waukesha was able to provide 938 "to-go" box meals to local men, women, and children.
Haven’t made your gift yet? Visit our webpage to donate.
Thursday, April 2
Thank you to our corporate donors
So many local corporations have stepped forward with financial gifts to our COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund. These include Baird, BMO Harris Bank, Deloitte, 88Nine, GE Healthcare, HSA Bank, Landmark Credit Union, Meijer, Northwestern Mutual, UW Credit Union, We Energies Foundation, and Weyco. New donations come in each day, so stay tuned for further updates.
Haven’t made your gift yet? Visit our webpage to donate.
Wednesday, April 1
Who we are helping with the COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund
Recently, we made a grant through the COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund to Hebron House, a Waukesha organization that provides emergency, short-term shelter and long-term housing solutions to individuals and families. United Way funding is helping Hebron House to stay open 24 hours, 7 days a week during this time, rather than closing during daytime hours.
A staff member at Hebron House shared the following:
“Joe works third shift and is now able to sleep at Hebron House’s men’s shelter during the day. Prior to Hebron House being able to stay open during the day thanks to United Way’s COVID-19 Fund grant, there was no daytime shelter for men in Waukesha County.
People who work third shift needed to choose between work and sleep. Now, Joe no longer has to sleep in his car during the day.”
Agency Amazon Wishlists
Another way to help out our agency partners is by supporting them through their Amazon Wishlists. We will continue to update them as we receive them here.
Elevate
Friedens Community Ministries
IndependenceFirst
Pathfinders
Meta House
March 2020
Tuesday, March 31
New temporary housing opens in Saint Francis
United Way has partnered with the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, the Milwaukee Archdiocese, and others to open an unused convent - Clare Hall on the Saint Francis de Sales seminary grounds - as temporary housing during the COVID-19 public health crisis. One wing of the building will be used to house older adults and others at high risk for coronavirus complications. Another wing will house homeless individuals who are already symptomatic. Read more.
Monday, March 30
Board approves temporary flexibility in agency grant use
United Way’s Board of Directors has approved a temporary measure to give our nonprofit agency partners more flexibility in how they spend the dollars allocated to them by United Way. Due to COVID-19, many of our partners are experiencing unprecedented challenges and require funding to meet the needs of their clients.
We trust our agency partners to know how to best serve their clients and we hope that flexibility in how they use their United Way dollars will help them do just that.
Read more.
Friday, March 27
United Way COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund Thank You & Update
United Way is extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed to the COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund. Throughout our community, so many of have stepped up to contribute:
- Individuals have made personal donations from $25 up to $5000.
- Companies in our area have also made donations—some contributing as much as six figures.
- We thank everyone for their support. We also know that we have a lot of work to do.
This is a crisis like no other, and we know that every day brings new challenges for many in our community. We are proud to stand tall and lead the fight, and we invite everyone to Live United and join us to support our neighbors by contributing to the COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund.
Wednesday, March 25
Funding provides personal protective equipment to local medical clinic
United Way has invested dollars from the COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund to provide personal protective gear for Bread of Healing Clinic staff so they can perform home visits to medically complex individuals. This equipment will protect both the vulnerable patients - individuals who might otherwise have to face the difficult choice of going to a hospital - as well as the clinicians providing the medical services.
In addition, United Way was able to provide gas cards for clinic staff to provide outreach medical services and prescription delivery to their patients.
Tuesday, March 24
Technology is a necessity, not a nice-to-have
More and more people are finding themselves needing to work from home in the non-profit sector within the last couple of weeks due to COVID-19, but don’t have the right technology to do so.
Jeff Hanson, Executive Director at Digital Bridge, knew they could step up and connect nonprofits and low-income families with the technology to work remotely.
Last week, Digital Bridge received requests from both the YMCA and Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers for computers in order for their staff to work remotely, and they fulfilled their request the same day.
“We want people to know technology is a necessity, not a luxury, and it’s more apparent now than ever,” Jeff explained.
Read more here.
Saturday, March 21
Donations help provide no-touch thermometers
Today, United Way was able to respond to a need for digital/no-touch thermometers, diapers, and other critical supplies at local childcare centers that are remaining open and operational during this time. Thank you to everyone who has donated for allowing us to respond quickly to the urgent needs of our community!
Wednesday, March 18
The Pfister donates food for local nonprofits
Due to event cancellations, the kitchen staff at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee had plenty of fresh food on their hands with no one to serve it to.
United Way picked up the food (the donations filled two vans!) and distributed it to several of our local nonprofit partners, including Cathedral Center, Guest House of Milwaukee, Walker’s Point Youth and Family Center, Sojourner Family Peace Center, and The Salvation Army.
Thank you to The Marcus Corporation and The Pfister Hotel for this generous donation to keeping our community healthy during this uncertain time.
Read more here.
Donation update: COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund
United Way has already made urgent grants to several area nonprofit organizations through this Urgent Needs Fund and previous donors’ gifts to the Community Fund.
Our focus has been on those agencies still operating services--shelters, food pantries, and clinics. To that end, we have purchased and distributed:
- Non-perishable food items for emergency shelters and homeless outreach programs
- Funding to expand meal service at local shelters
- Cleaning supplies
- Gloves for serving food
- Medical-grade gloves for clinic staff
- Hygiene supplies including toilet paper
Additionally, we have moved dollars to help shelters extend their hours. In Waukesha County, for example, Hebron House is staying open 24/7, rather than requiring residents to leave during the day.
Friday, March 13
COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund
United Way’s nonprofit partners are experiencing increased demand for emergency food service, increased costs for needed medical equipment and for cleaning supplies.
For our partners who must remain open to serve our community’s most vulnerable members, they also have some increased staffing costs either because they are extending hours as needs increase or using staff for things volunteers might have previously done.
This fund will support these urgent needs of nonprofits as they arise.
Click here to donate today.