United Way KFL&A COVID-19 Update – September 8, 2020

Good afternoon! Hope your September is off to a great start and you enjoyed the long weekend.

In this week’s update you’ll find information about the Leadership Challenge Grant, where to find online videos and tours of agencies in the community, a shout out and thank you to our Labour partners and more info about the United Way KFL&A 2020 Campaign Kick off this Friday, Sept. 11.

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE GRANT

In line with the ongoing theme of Local Love in Action, United Way KFL&A is excited to announce the Leadership Challenge Grant will continue this year. Thanks to a generous donation from Jessica Bayne Hogan, new Leadership donors can once again increase the impact of their gift. Donors who increase their donations to $1,200 will see their donation matched and donors who are already Leaders of the Way (donations of $1,200 or more), and add at least 10% to their gift will also see their increase matched.

The Leadership Challenge Grant led to an increase of 21% in leadership donations in 2019, and Jessica wanted to continue the grant this year, especially given the challenging times.

“All of us have likely at some point in the past few months felt anxious, uncertain about the future, distanced from those people who regularly make up our lives & even those in our community who we don’t know personally. The stresses about the long term effects that this pandemic will have on all aspects of our lives is unknown but something that we likely all contemplate frequently,” she said. “The one certainty is that we have the power to come together and tackle the upcoming challenges together. It is for this reason that I have been inspired by the amazing efforts made to date by charitable organizations, front line workers, the community and various government initiatives, to continue to support the United Way in the form of a Challenge Grant this year.” – Jessica Bayne Hogan

We hope community members will consider accepting the challenge this year! For more information, check out the Leadership Giving page on our website.

YOUR IMPACT – ONLINE VIDEOS AND TOURS

With the launch of a new campaign just days away, United Way KFL&A has also made changes to our website. As resources this year shift to be more virtual, you can find new materials that show the impact of your local love and donations at www.unitedwaykfla.ca and more specifically agency speaker videos and tours at www.unitedwaykfla.ca/videos/

Throughout the campaign, these resources will continue to be updated and we invite you to share them with your own friends, family and coworkers to help spread the word about the impact of United Way in KFL&A.

We want to specially thank our amazing frontline agencies, who work so hard every day of the year, and especially during this pandemic. 50+ social service agencies have found new and different ways to continue to offer programs to people in need across the region. Thank you for finding the time to record these videos and share the impact of your work.

THANK YOU TO OUR LABOUR PARTNERS

As with every event, this year’s Labour Day parade looked a bit different and was a caravan instead including vehicles, cyclist and a special radio program on CFRC.

United Ways across Canada share a longstanding partnership with the Canadian Labour Congress. Locally we are fortunate to have a strong partnership and yesterday’s event included a cheque presentation from the Kingston and District Labour Council for this year’s campaign.

Thanks so much to the KDLC and all union affiliates for your support! Together we are building strong and healthy communities.

2020 CAMPAIGN KICK OFF

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Friday, September 11^th when we will kick off our annual campaign and reveal this year’s campaign goal. The day will feature videos, photos, interviews and more on our website, through email and on social media channels throughout the day.

The day will kick-off, as it traditionally does, with Kingston’s Town Crier followed by 2020 Campaign Chair, Antje McNeely revealing the campaign goal with the help of some adorable volunteers. Please make sure you join the Facebook Event and tune in at 8am for the official kick-off or register with Eventbrite to have the link to our website event page sent to you! (Note: you do not need to be a Facebook user to access the link)

You can always stay up to date by following our social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn and of course, you can find regular updates on our website at www.unitedwaykfla.ca

Thank you! Your support is changing lives impacted by this pandemic.

Take care. Stay safe and well!