LIVE
UNITED Holiday Campaign Kicks Off in Time for Thanksgiving and Giving
Tuesday.
San
Francisco, CA, USA (November 25, 2014) -- United
Way of the Bay Area today announced the launch of
its LIVE UNITED holiday campaign, including a gift drive for
individuals, community organizations and businesses that want to
support local families in need. The poverty-fighting organization has
also released a toolkit to support gift drive participants, which
includes a list of most-needed items, suggestions for getting others
involved and instructions for dropping off the gift bags.
"At
United Way, we talk a lot about what it means to LIVE
UNITED-especially during the holidays. For us, it's about doing our
part to support those in need throughout our community. Volunteering
is an easy and fun way to help-and spread holiday cheer," said
Sarah Burton, Director of Volunteer Engagement.
The
holiday gift bag drive invites community members to LIVE UNITED by
supporting low-income children, families and seniors across the San
Francisco Bay Area. Participants are encouraged to get family members
and friends involved in the collection of items by requesting
houseguests to bring one item each to holiday gatherings. The
most-needed items include warm clothing, toys, canned or boxed food,
and personal care products. Grocery store gift cards are also
immensely helpful to low-income parents and seniors. Donations should
be delivered to United Way of the Bay Area's San Francisco office at
550 Kearny Street, 10th Floor, or Oakland office at 1970 Broadway,
Suite 400.
Participants
and the general public are also invited to share their stories of how
they LIVE UNITED by giving back to the community at
http://uwba.org/live-united.
Like Zoila, for example, who went from client to staff member at one
of United Way's SparkPoint Centers: "I want people to have the
same opportunities as I had. That's how I LIVE UNITED."
A
recent research brief issued by United Way of the Bay Area revealed
that 29 percent of Bay Area households live below self-sufficiency,
meaning these individuals cannot afford basic necessities like
housing, food and health care. The holiday gift drive is just one of
the many ways that United Way combats poverty through giving,
advocacy and volunteerism.
Learn
more about the holiday gift drive and additional holiday volunteer
opportunities at http://uwba.org/volunteer.
Read stories about Bay Area residents LIVING UNITED and share your
own at http://uwba.org/live-united.
About
United Way of the Bay Area
United
Way of the Bay Area is a nonprofit organization, leading a movement
to cut Bay Area poverty in half by 2020. We're harnessing the
collective power of nonprofits, government, corporations, labor and
thousands of individuals to create change through giving, advocating,
and volunteering. Every year, our programs - SparkPoint, Earn It!
Keep It! Save It!, 211, MatchBridge and Community Schools - help more
than 250,000 Bay Area residents. We connect people to food and
shelter, put people back to work, bring tax dollars back to our
community, help youth succeed in school and in the workplace, and
move people toward financial stability. Founded in 1922, United Way
of the Bay Area serves Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San
Francisco, San Mateo and Solano Counties. For more information, visit
http://uwba.org.
Media
Contact:
Erica
Johnson
415-808-4308
No comments:
Post a Comment