On September 15th, Spokane County United Way brought together over 600 volunteers in a one day effort to package ingredients for 10 bean veggie chili into family size proportions. This event, known as Make A Meal For Many, resulted in over $30,000 of volunteer value and created 140,000 meals for local families. 

We partnered with Second Harvest Inland Northwest  to secure five semi-trucks of locally sourced potatoes, onions and mixed beans for this event.The 10 bean veggie chili ingredients, along with a recipe card, will be distributed through Second Harvest food banks and pantries, and mobile food distribution sites. This day is one way we partner with Second Harvest, but our work is a year-round partnership in efforts to increase the  financial stability of families. 

Spokane County United Way would like to extend a special thank you to our sponsors, Emerging Leaders Society volunteers and our partner Second Harvest Inland Northwest. This wonderful volunteer opportunity and community support would not have been accomplished without you all!

CLICK HERE

To see the professional photos donated by Hamilton Studio.

 

Watch the KHQ news story highlighting that day's event.

 

View our volunteer thank you video.

 

Read quotes from participating volunteers.

 

Learn more about this great Day of Action.

 

Do you have or know a preschool-aged child? One of our tools to help parents and child care providers prepare children for kindergarten is our Kindergarten Readiness Calendar.

Have your own calendar!  (Click Here for an English Calendar) (Click Here for a Spanish Calendar) . The calendar contains:

• Ways for adults to engage kiddos in learning activities.
• Provides school registration information, book ideas and contact information for elementary schools and libraries.

We distribute nearly 10,000 calendars to ECEAP and Headstart programs, school districts, libraries and child care providers in our community. This is part of our work to help children be prepared and ready for kindergarten. We know that children who start behind tend to stay behind. Our work is about ensuring all students are ready for Kindergarten, reading at grade level, are successful in and out of school, graduate on time and are college or career ready.

Learn more about Spokane County United Way's education work and our collaborative work focused on a cradle to career continuum with  Excelerate Success .

Spokane County U nited Way is pleased to announce that our colleague Leah Horton and six Emerging Leaders Society Board Members received the Catalyst's 20 Under 40 Award. Leah Horton is our Resource Development Manager and Emerging Leaders Society Program Manager. 

The Emerging Leaders Society's goal is to connect dynamic, young professionals driven to create lasting change through philanthropy, volunteerism and community leadership in the Spokane community.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the community efforts of the Emerging Leaders Society.

A special round of applause for the members of the Emerging Leaders Society who received the Catalyst's 20 Under 40 award!

Emily Arneson: Community Ombudsman and Accessibility Office, Spokane Transit Authority

Scott Piepel: Graphic Designer, Numerica Credit Union

Tim Shustoff: General Manager, Eastern Washington University

Kami Winfrey: Technical Services Manager, Potlach Corp.

Spokane County United Way is working with the Freeman School District and Freeman Community, Empire Health Foundation, Inland Northwest Community Foundation and other community partners to support the recovery efforts at Freeman, both short and long-term. To that end, we have established a Freeman Strong Fund to help the Freeman community. No fees will be deducted from gifts to this fund. The use of the donations will be determined in partnership with the Freeman School District Recovery and Plan for Wellness Committee.