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Local United Way wants to impact 33,000 people this campaign

Sep 13, 2018 | 9:50 AM

The United Way Alberta Northwest is hoping to impact 33,000 lives this campaign year.

Fundraising and Business Development Officer Jessica Pinette says they spoke with their community partners and programs before deciding on a campaign goal.

“And asking them, on average, how much their program costs for people to access.  And then we took that number and we averaged it, and it worked out to be about $30 per person.  So, every $30 in donations that we take in impacts one life in our community,” she explained.

She says some local programs are needing more funding than they ever have before.

“The St. Lawrence Centre needed extra staffing.  They were so widely used that they ran out of their funding and had to ask the public for more.  There’s places like HIV North as well as so many other programs that their main barrier is that they don’t have enough funding.”

She says people are not donating like they used to despite the economy picking up. They are also in need of volunteers.