Our 2024 Campaign Kickoff was an unqualified success. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who attended or donated, as well as to our event sponsors, and our incredible panelists. Your efforts have set our campaign off on the best possible footing and we look forward to a year of positive impact in Clallam County!
First things first: We know you want to see the event photos! Click the image or the button below to be taken to the Facebook album for the event. We invite you to tag, share and download. All those smiling faces tell us that everyone had as good a time as we did, and we're so glad!
This is the fourth year that we've hosting Celebrate United, and this year was the most successful by far in terms of fundraising. Hosting a panel in place of a hired entertainer allowed us to significantly cut our costs, and the generosity that our guests showed during the raise-the-paddle honestly blew us away!
Celebrate United 2024 raised a total of $23,950!
We're Listening. We always strive to make our events better, not only for fundraising, but also in terms of the experience for our guests! If you have feedback about any aspect of our events, we'd love to hear it! Please contact Development Director Jaycie Wakefield and share your thoughts with us: jaycie@unitedwayclallam.org
The kickoff is over but the campaign has just begun! Give today and help us in our mission to strengthen our community by helping people live safe, healthy, and productive lives!
Our Expert Panel
Our panel of CEO's shared their invaluable insight on the biggest challenges currently facing Clallam County, as well as recent accomplishments they're most proud of, and how they would describe their relationship with United Way. Here are a few excerpts:
Wendy Bart, CEO, Olympic Peninsula YMCA
"United Way puts a spotlight on the needs in our community and they're the ones who create that bridge between what the needs are and the agencies that are working to address those needs. So... in many ways, United Way is a lighthouse for what's happening in our community. United Way has been a critical convener; [they're] at every table. When the community is coming together, [they're the] glue. ...[T]he strength of United Way is a mirror of the strength of this community, and it's been very powerful."
Mary Budke, CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula
"United Way helps put out the events for all of our organizations so that people come and participate. [T]hey also have done support letters for grants and helped us get funding for our programs that we run. And Kennedy (the Student Financial Aid Liaison), Kennedy comes to the clubs. Kennedy works directly with our teens, getting them signed up for ... FAFSA. It was a huge help to us."
Wendy Sisk, CEO, Peninsula Behavioral Health
"We helped over 100 community members find safe and stable housing last year, and that is a huge victory. ...We're about to open a supportive living house in Sequim; it will be our first Sequim housing. The other thing I really want to highlight... in that spirit of partnership... [I said to Susie Ames and her team at Peninsula College], 'I really need a Bachelor's program that helps lead to living wage jobs that will be a springboard for people who want more advanced degrees in behavioral health.' And we had, I think 18 people enrolled in that program last year. "
United for ALICE
Part of our program was to introduce our audience to our priority population of ALICE. ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and represents a growing number of families who are unable to afford the basics of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and technology. These workers keep our local communities running, while often struggling to keep their own households from financial ruin.
Visit our United for ALICE page to learn more about ALICE and walk through a day of accessing services that help keep these households away from the brink.
Every dollar donated to United Way of Clallam County supports ALICE households in some way, and aims to provide the kind of lasting stability that will move these families away from the brink and into lifelong financial security.