"Building relationships to support our community with

collaboration, compassion and purpose."

The toys are in...but we can still use more Volunteer Elves to help get things ready for this year's Christmas Bureau.

There are plenty of days and hours to sign-up to help through the next week. Location - 106 Somerset Drive NW in Conover.

Also, distribution for the family bags has been moved to Saturday, Dec. 13.

VOLUNTEER at - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/TSAAngelTree2025#/

The Catawba County Christmas Bureau is a collaborative effort among many Catawba County agencies and organizations to provide toys, clothing, coats and meals to families with children and teenagers (ages birth to 17) in need of assistance during the Christmas season. Applications are taking in October.

The primary committee partners for the Christmas Bureau included: Catawba Co. Sheriff's Dept., Catawba Co. Partnership for Children, Catawba Co. Dept. of Social Services, Catawba County United Way, Catawba County School district, City of Hickory Fire Dept., Catawba County United Way Teen Christmas, Ashure Ministry, Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry, Hickory Soup Kitchen, Hickory Public School district, Marine Toys for Tots, Newton-Conover City School district, The Salvation Army of Greater Hickory and Safe Kids Catawba Co.

Christmas Bureau volunteers will help set up the The Salvation Army Angel Tree Toy Shop and process donations, turning them into gifts for children in our community. The work requires walking and lifting (up to 20 lbs.) in a warehouse setting. Please bring a sweater as it will be cold in the warehouse.

Congratulations Deb Benfield from Shurtape Technologies.

Deb’s name was drawn as the tenth and last finalist for the 2025 Catawba County United Way Car Giveaway.

Thank you, Paramount Auto Group in Hickory for donating the vehicle, and thank you RLI-CPA Certified Public Accountants, for overseeing this year’s drawings.

Employees at local businesses running a United Way campaign who donate a minimum of $100 are eligible to enter each week's drawing.

Funds raised during the annual Catawba County United Way campaign support local non-profit efforts to help individuals and families facing a crisis in our community.

Want to be part of this year’s United Way campaign? Call 828-327-6851 for more information about hosting a United Way campaign at your company.

The Car Giveaway winner will be chosen on Dec. 11. Thank You to everyone who supports the CCUW every year.

The past week’s number of overall calls for assistance from Catawba County to NC 211 was 61, down slightly from the previous week number of 64. Housing was still the greatest need with 23 calls requesting information on shelters, low-cost housing and rent assistance.

Ten calls were made requesting information on help with utility bills.

NC 211 is the United Way of North Carolina's health and human services information line, open 24/7.



For help - Call NC 211 by dialing 2-1-1 or (888) 892 1162 or visit nc211.org.

The Catawba County United Way is a proud to help fund NC 211 locally.

See more local NC 211 data at - https://nc.211counts.org/

Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry needs winter gloves for their clients. The recent cold snap has run down the supplies they had. If you can help, contact Alan Lyda - GHCCM Client Services Manager - alyda@ccmhickory.org or call 828-327-0979. Every bit helps.

Local Food Resources/Warming Sites - In response to the continued need, the Catawba County United Way worked with its community partners to create a list of local food resources along with information on warming sites when temperatures reach 32 degrees and below.

The Catawba County United Way will continue to updated this list throughout the year. If you would like to add or update a resource call 828-327-6851 or email jbailey@ccunitedway.com.

• Information gathered from public social media posts and press releases. To submit a non-profit/public agency brief email John Bailey at THIS LINK.

From helping collect food, to manning an information desk, to showing up at a disaster ready to help, Catawba County nonprofits would struggle to help others without their volunteers.  

Each year thousands of volunteers give their time to make a difference for those in need and no job is too small.

Their efforts mean nonprofits can have greater outreach with community projects and save the agencies thousands of dollars each month in labor costs.

See the Catawba County United Way's recent updated list of local

Volunteer Opportunities at THIS LINK

To learn about ongoing nonprofit Volunteer Needs visit THIS LINK.

We've all heard the phrase - "It takes a village," and in the non-profit world it's true. The Catawba County United Way enjoys building relationships with its community partners and sees how much greater our impact is because of our collective efforts every day.

Below are some upcoming non-profit events from just a few of those partners...please share, and if you're interested, the Catawba County Interagency Council meets the second Thursday every month (10:30 a.m.) at the United Way office - 2760 Tate Blvd SE in Hickory.

Call 828-327-6851 for more information or email jbailey@ccunitedway.com.

• To submit a non-profit/public agency flier email John Bailey at THIS LINK.