United Way rolls out $500,000 fundraising
campaign education, health challenges at the fore
The United Way of Central Aroostook is looking ahead more than a year, hoping to garner enough support to continue nurturing the “building blocks of a good life,” said executive director Claudia Stevens.
On Tuesday, the United Way of Aroostook kicked off its 2016 fund drive, travelling in an RV lent by McCluskey’s RV Center and meeting with community members and business owners and employees at S.W. Collins Home Design Center in Caribou and Marden’s stores in Houlton and Presque Isle.
The goal is to raise $500,000 between now and June of 2016, Stevens said. The majority of UWA donations are raised through workplace pledge drives, with companies often offering matching funds and in-kind services to help reach the goal.
The United Way focuses on helping communities with education, income and health, for both young children and seniors.
“If people can have those things in their life, they can have a good and productive life,” Stevens said.
Among the projects supported by the United Way, Stevens mentioned the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a nonprofit that mails a book to children once a month from the time they’re born until their fifth birthday.
“Getting parents to read to their children and promoting bonding time is important, and helps young children learn colors, numbers and basic reading before they start school,” Stevens said. “The research shows if they start that education earlier, the better off they’re going to be.”
Other projects United Way is supporting include the services of the Aroostook County Action Program, the Central Aroostook Association, St. John Valley Associates, the Grace Interfaith Food Table, the Hope & Justice Project domestic abuse resources, the Meals on Wheels seniors’ food services, Catholic Charities Home Supply and Food Bank, and free tax-preparation and financial coaching.
