Otto Bremer Foundation Offers $5,000 Match

United Way St. Croix Valley is conducting its Give 10, Tell 10 fundraising campaign April 21 through May 20 to help close a shortfall in last fall's campaign. This year, the goal will be to raise $5,000 from the community. The campaign encourages community members to donate $10 to United Way and then invite ten of their friends to do the same.

"Give 10, Tell 10 is all about the power of grassroots fundraising and the power of people coming together for a common goal," said United Way St. Croix Valley Web and Marketing Associate Kate Smith. "We hope this year's grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation will encourage people to participate even more."

Matching Grant Available

United Way St. Croix Valley has a multi-year grant from the Foundation that includes a matching component. Part of the match has already been met but $5,000 is still available to match donations made to the Give 10, Tell 10 campaign. "The Otto Bremer Foundation grant means that anyone who has not donated to United Way St. Croix Valley within the past 12 months can have their donation matched dollar for dollar and that current donors can make another gift and have it matched," said Executive Director John Coughlin. "We are so grateful to the Otto Bremer Foundation for this opportunity and encourage everyone to help us meet our goal."

Join Us for a Celebration

The money raised through this special campaign will provide for basic needs such as food and shelter. To celebrate the close of the campaign, United Way St. Croix Valley will be holding an open house at its Food Resource Center on May 20 at 3 p.m. Representatives from the local shelters and food pantries will be invited to share the stories of the challenges faced by the families they serve. Refreshments will be provided, and the Give 10, Tell 10 campaign total will be announced. The Food Resource Center is located at 612 Badlands Road in Hudson.

For More Information

For more information about the campaign, call 715-377-0203 or email ksmith@unitedwaystcroix.org. You may mail your donation to United Way St. Croix Valley, 516 Second Street, Suite 214B, Hudson, WI 54016 or donate online at www.unitedwaystcroix.org/give.html.

United Way St. Croix Valley funding supports FamilyMeans  

FamilyMeans provided credit counseling services to 1,657 individuals in the United Way St. Croix Valley service area in 2009 and another 623 people from that region received mental health counseling last year.

"We continue to see the need for these services so far in 2010 and anticipate this will continue for some time," said Arba-Della Beck, president of FamilyMeans. "People seek help from FamilyMeans for many different reasons, and we're glad to be a place that can provide assistance during the more challenging times in a person's life. We're grateful to the United Way St. Croix Valley, an organization that understands the critical need and aids through financial support."

Among the services offered through the agency's Consumer Credit Counseling Service are budget and credit counseling, a debt repayment program, bankruptcy services and financial literacy workshops. Funding from the United Way St. Croix Valley specifically funds the traditional budget and credit counseling services offered to individuals.

The clients served by FamilyMeans have included a family from New Richmond who received local and national attention in 2009 for paying down more than $100,000 worth of debt in less than five years.

The mental health and family counseling arm of the agency provides individual and family counseling; a Children in Transition program that supports elementary-age children whose parents are divorcing; and a depression screening program for ninth graders - run in collaboration with New Richmond schools - to support the healthy development of youth and reduce the incidence of teen suicide.

FamilyMeans has offered social services to western Wisconsin and Washington County residents since 1963, and it's because of agencies such as United Way St. Croix Valley that allow FamilyMeans to continue to offer the high caliber of programs and services to those in need. In fact, FamilyMeans does not turn away anyone based on their inability to pay. To that end, the agency relies on the financial support from organizations like the United Way to ensure the services are available to meet the demand. FamilyMeans has Wisconsin offices in Hudson and Eau Claire and Minnesota offices in Stillwater, Rochester and throughout the Twin Cities.

We Want to Hear from You!

You may have noticed our website, www.unitedwaystcroix.org, has had a change in organization and has added new content. We would love your opinion on the changes, and have prepared a short survey linked below. Thank you so much for your input! 

Take the survey now