Thank you United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley
SALEM, OREGON – March 9, 2021
United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley is proud to announce the award of $250,000 grant to the Detroit Lake Foundation providing them with a significant portion of the funding needed to construct a Community Center to replace the City Hall that was lost due to the devastating Beachie Creek and Lionshead Wildfires.
“Our commitment to being a strong community partner in the effort to restore the vitality of the Canyon communities, remains to be one of our top priorities. We are proud to give this support to the Detroit community, in the largest single grant award we’ve ever done.” said Rhonda Wolf, CEO.
For over 80 years, United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley has been working to meet the needs of vulnerable families in our region. No matter the crisis, we have always remained steadfast in our commitment to take care of our community. When the wildfires wreaked havoc across our region, forcing thousands of people to evacuate and seek shelter, we immediately jumped into action with a Resource Hub to meet their most pressing needs.
In 2020, United Way has invested over $3.1 million dollars back into our region through our Community Benefit allocation. This award brings our total cash investment in the Santiam Wildfire Recovery effort to just over $530 thousand dollars, which includes $150 thousand to Santiam Canyon Watershed Council, $25 thousand to the Santiam School district and over $100 thousand to support basic needs for wildfire survivors. Additional supports, such as items from our Gifts In Kind Program as a Good360 Regional Distribution Partner, total over $2.2 million dollars.
To date, United Way has raised almost a million dollars to support long term recovery efforts in the Canyon and is facilitating the Long Term Recovery Group (LTRG) – an organized effort of over 110 community partners, volunteers, social service providers, county, city and federal teams to help our friends rebuild and thrive. This effort will continue for the next four to six years.
“We are extremely grateful for the investment in our community from the United Way and the donors who contributed to their Wildfire Relief and Recovery fund.” said Chris Tardiff, president of the Detroit Lake Foundation. “This gift is part of a transformational effort to rebuild our beloved city that will be loved by generations to come.”
A check presentation event will be held at the former site of Cedars Restaurant, 200 Detroit Ave, Detroit, OR 97342, on Friday, March 12, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on United Way’s Facebook page.
If you would like additional information, please contact Elizabeth Schrader.
About United Way: Founded in 1937, the United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley works to unite people and resources to build resilient communities that thrive. We are an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization governed by a local volunteer board of directors, and work with more than 60 social service providers to support the more than 507,000 residents in Marion, Polk and Yamhill Counties in the Mid-Willamette Valley, Oregon. Dedicated to facilitating lasting social change, we work together with businesses, government, schools, faith groups, individual community members, and nonprofits – because it takes the whole community to get the kind of results we need.
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