United Way of Western Nebraska is a proud recipient of a Union Pacific Railroad Community Ties Giving Program grant, which will impact local families through fostering a healthy community and supporting residents in our area with basic needs, including providing hunger relief, homelessness prevention and safe shelter through nonprofit partnerships. United Way programs directly support families and local nonprofit agencies to help both families and individuals experiencing poverty meet basic needs. From ensuring families have basic food to hygiene items to safe shelters, United Way is providing much needed support to the community. Through partnerships to address basic needs, United Way and our partners provide the track to improve health and well-being for all to foster a health community.
United Way Executive Director Karen Benzel highlighted the importance of the grant for United Way. Benzel noted, “We are grateful for Union Pacific Railroad’s support in our local community. The grant funds we received will impact local families and community members through supporting the community impact work of United Way and our mission to provide aid to local non-profits.”
Union Pacific’s Community Ties Giving Program provides small- and medium-sized grants that align with the railroad’s priority cause areas in safety, workforce development, community vitality and environmental sustainability. In total, UP gave $480,000 to 38 organizations across Nebraska in this round of grants, which also included funding to the Way Out West Community Theater in Sidney and the Sandhills Crisis Intervention Program in Ogallala.
“Local grants have the power to create meaningful change within the communities our tracks touch,” said Beth Whited, Union Pacific President and Union Pacific Foundation President. “We are proud to partner with nonprofit organizations who are making an impact on the future – creating safer places for children and families; bringing economic prosperity to communities; building vibrant, inclusive areas for people to thrive; and instilling sustainable practices.”
Funds raised are used to support United Way community impact initiatives and local non-profits partner agencies in the eleven Western Nebraska Panhandle counties plus Goshen and Platte Counties in Wyoming that are actively focused on healthy community, youth opportunity, community resiliency or financial security. United Way tracks the dollars raised in each county to ensure that donor dollars remain local and impactful in the communities where they are given. United Way funding is open to non-profits that focus on financial stability, education and better health in United Way of Western Nebraska’s service area. Local non-profit agencies like Northfield Haven, East Point Horspice, Buck Therapeutic Riding Academy, Camp Scott, The Doves Program, Community Table and the Scottsbluff/Gering Soup Kitchen rely on United Way for support. Current community impact initiatives include Fighting Hunger in
Our Communities, Stuff the Bus, and Imagination Library. To learn more about United Way and their work in the local community visit www.uwwn.org.
