For a thousand dollars you can scale the nine-story F&M Bank building in downtown Burlington and help the Southeast Iowa United Way expand its mission to provide care and comfort to more communities in the area.
Megan Brincks, United Way executive director and Kathy Smith, assistant director, told members of the Burlington noon Rotary Club, the organization has expanded beyond the borders of Burlington and West Burlington to 20 zip codes in southeast Iowa.
New communities to serve means more efforts toward fundraising and community education.
“The thing we heard the most when visiting the communities to bring them on board is that this is a Burlington/West Burlington organization and the money we raise will stay here. We are working to change that perception,” Brincks said.
United Way does not provide direct services but is a fundraising organization that provides funding to service providers in the community that do impart services to individuals in need.
“If you want to donate to something I say, make that donation, but what we (United Way) provide is a connection to all of the available resources in the area,” Brincks said.
New partnerships allow non-profit organizations in those communities to apply for United Way funds. Brincks said each community has different needs, and the addition of these new towns has diversified the portfolio of organizations the United Way reaches. The diversity has made it possible to assist a broader cross-section of people in the southeast Iowa area.
An expanded service area means the United Way will need to ramp up its fundraising efforts.
A unique fundraiser is being planned in Burlington on August 3. This experience will put anyone over the edge, with an opportunity to rappel the F&M Bank Building, located on the corner of Jefferson and Third Streets, downtown Burlington. The event will be accompanied by a day-long street festival.
Brincks said the United Way is teaming up with an organization that provides the details of the endeavor, including the equipment necessary for the safety of all individuals who are brave enough to go over the edge.
Over the Edge is an urban rapelling company that provides these experiences as fundraising opportunities. Brincks said the Dubuque (Iowa) Area United Way held an event with the company and has raised $13 million to date.
Before that event, Brincks said the United Way is partnering with the National Letter Carriers Association, the postal workers union for the Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
Residents will receive a postcard with information about the food drive and a grocery bag to fill with non-perishable food items.
On May 11, food donations can be left anywhere mail is delivered and it will be picked up by the mail carrier.
Donations will be weighed that Saturday and then distributed to local food banks. Brincks said the goal is to ramp donations back up to pre-pandemic levels of nine to ten thousand pounds collected.
The UnitedWay of Southeast Iowa has its roots in the Burlington Community Chest, Inc. operated from 1925 until 1973, when the name was formally changed to Burlington Area United Way, Inc.
In 1995 the organization name was changed to its current title: Burlington/West Burlington Area United Way, Inc, to include the communities surrounding Greater Burlington.
Allocations to local service organizations in 1925 totaled $45,800. The goal presently hovers around $400,000 yearly.
Currently the Burlington/West Burlington Area United Way is directed by a volunteer 24-member Board of Directors, with a nine-member Executive Committee, and two full-time staff.
The Executive Committee reviews all matters of the United Way and forwards recommendations to the full Board of Directors. Recommendations are voted on by the Board of Directors, whose decisions are final.
Throughout its history, the United Way has strived to assist local health and human service agencies to better the quality of life for the area residents.
