The newly-renamed United Way Haliburton Kawartha Lakes launched its annual campaign at Carnarvon Family Golf Sept. 5.
Executive director Shantal Ingram said the event was partially to introduce the new name. It used to be called United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes.
“It was really important for us to include ‘Haliburton’ because it is an important part of the work that we do,” she said.
Ingram added it is traditional for United Way to kick off its fundraising campaigns with a lunch event and they were “excited to get the campaign off and running.”
They have a community capacity grant with recipients changing every year, depending on who applies. However, they have funded Point in Time, SIRCH meal programs and EarlyON. Haliburton Highlands Health Services volunteers bring a van to Edwin Binney’s community farm and education centre in Lindsay every couple of weeks and fill it with fresh produce. The food is dispersed to five different locations.
One recent change has seen the LCBO move away from United Way as its recipient of the LCBO at the till program, which has impacted fundraising. Ingram said they’d ike to get it back.
“You’ve got to just make the best of the situation because we know the programming we’re funding in both locations is doing really amazing work, and the agencies are really amazing.”
Pippa Stephenson, executive director of EarlyON, said, “for decades, United Way has supported us, here in Haliburton it’s probably been more so since the pandemic, with the LCBO at the till.”
She said the money has enabled them to bring different programs to the community; such as stroller-size, baby and mom yoga, and the use of Abbey Gardens for some outdoor programming for families.
“This year, we’re excited because what we’ve decided to do is put together some packages with activities, and books for children, a gift card, those are going to be distributed with picnic blankets through the food banks in Wilberforce, Cardiff, Minden and Haliburton.”
The United Way Haliburton Kawartha Lakes helps tackle challenging problems through financial support for agencies and programming. They address what they call the “three pillars of poverty to possibility, all that kids can be, healthy people, and strong communities.”
Programming is about accessing food, maintaining housing, accessing safety equipment to help children have a safe start in life; finding safe spaces to connect; receiving mentorship; and making connections to feel at home in the community.
The community farm provides fresh produce to 30 food banks and organizations, donating nearly 85,000 pounds of produce since 2019. Nearly 2,400 people have been served through food distribution programs annually. An average of $50,000 of food is given out for free to 13 community food agencies every year – equal to approximately 4,500 meals each season. Ingram added more than 700 kids and youth attend the farm for educational programming every year.
