wrap-up

The United Way of Western Nebraska held their 2021-22 Campaign Wrap-Up press conference on Friday, detailing the results of their various fundraising campaigns throughout the last year. Steph Black, the outgoing executive United Way executive director, said the campaign had raised a total of $472,012 across the Scotts Bluff, Box Butte and Dawes county areas.

The campaign aimed to raise $320,000 from the Scotts Bluff area and $92,500 from the northern Panhandle. It surpassed those goals by raising $377,640 from the Scotts Bluff Region and $94,372 from Dawes and Box Butte counties. “We’ve had amazing support this year,” Black said. “We’re fortunate to live in such a giving and supportive community that believes in helping others, and that truly was the key to our success this year.”

Black was among five United Way members presenting at the press conference. The others included the incoming executive director Karen Benzel, special events coordinator Jill Allen, outgoing board president Todd Lewis and incoming board president Jason Rogers.

The group worked with 26 ‘Pacesetter Businesses’ in the Scotts Bluff area. These businesses held internal fundraisers and provided corporate donations, totaling nearly $134,000. There were 22 Pacesetter Businesses in the Box Butte and Dawes County regions which raised more than $65,000. The United Way also received an anonymous donation of $61,000.

Allen highlighted the United Way Duck Draw event in September, which sold 11,049 ducks and raised $94,892. Benzel made mention of the DISCover United Way disc golf tournament in Alliance which raised $6,000. “They (the numbers) are impressive by themselves, but together we’re making a huge impact on the community,” Benzel said.

During the conference, the presenters related different methods the United Way spent the funds raised. These included funding more than two dozen non-profit programs across the Panhandle. The non-profits tackled various issues included financial instability, food insecurity and homelessness.

United Way also granted $10,100 to 13 Panhandle school districts to purchase supplies and delivered more than 200 school supply kits to local Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska (CAPWN) offices. They also provided more than $16,000 in grants to 17 local programs which help fight food insecurity and hosted bag-packing events to deliver food to elderly residents and families in need.

Many of the programs the United Way undertook over the last year had to be restructured to prevent the spread of COVID. This included their Stuff the Bus promotion, where people were encouraged to donate money to purchase school supplies instead of donating the supplies directly. Community members often provided donations of money at events, but several of them volunteered whenever the occasion arose.

Benzel promoted the notion that, moving forward, she has visions of making the United Way of Western Nebraska more united. Previous campaign wrap-up conferences were hosted separately for the Scotts Bluff and northern Panhandle areas. Now, they’re together, and she has plans to host events in additional locations across the Panhandle. “Of course, everywhere we are with United Way we’re always grateful for the communities that support us,” she said.

Some events for the 2022-23 campaign are already planned; Black said they’ve been in the works for months. The 2022 Duck Draw in Scottsbluff, for example, will take place on Sept. 17. Another disc golf tournament will occur on Aug. 20 in Alliance. The group announced that the United Way Color Dash this year will be in-person instead of virtual and will take place on June 4.

Benzel said new goals for the next campaign will be decided later in the year. She said she knew rising inflation could limit people’s ability to donate, but that the group would work hard to fill in the gaps and seek additional funding.