$1.2M in expenses

Allocations and agency relations include the evaluation of community needs and the distribution of funds to best meet those needs. United way of lake county's (UWLC) many volunteers are critical decision- makers when making program funding decisions. There is a staff lead for the group, but it is the collection of 20-25 volunteers that meet weekly for several months to evaluate programs, listen to agency representatives, then decide which programs will receive funding. UWLC utilized the same online platform for applications and evaluations, so our volunteers were able to submit their evaluations in advance then meet in-person to discuss and have good conversations and questions amongst the group. To raise the dollars that our volunteers are able to help allocate, dozens of companies run workplace campaigns, involving corporate gifts and special events, along with hundreds of lake county residents that give individually through mailings and other events, that help keep lake county engaged in making it a better place to live and work, and ultimately improve the building blocks to a stronger community; education, financial stability, and health.

$358K in expenses

Community impact includes coordination of agency staff, volunteers, and other resources to conduct activities for the betterment of the community. Our annual day of caring was held in june where lake county companies, organizations, and individuals adopted projects submitted by lake county agencies, and we helped to pair hundreds of volunteers with the projects. These efforts help to save our non-profit partners tens of thousands of dollars in labor and supplies. During the grant allocation process in the spring, we ran our annual feed lake county drive through a solicitation mailing and 100+ companies and organizations ran food and monetary drives. Because of the support of so many companies and individuals, we were able to host several food distributions all throughout the year, totaling nearly 58,000 in direct food purchases from local grocers, on top of distributing tens of thousands of pounds donated by area companies and individuals. We also have two affinity groups that were able to thrive throughout the year. The emerging leaders (el) are made up of a group of lake county young professionals that host an annual golf outing, 4 under 40 awards ceremony, and other fundraising/network events throughout the year, they also evaluate the grant applications received during the regular grant cycle. Because of their efforts, they were able to allocate 40,000 to programs related to their youth-driven mission, including the youth united way program for high school students. Women united is made up of a group of lake county women whose mission is to improve the lives of women and children in lake county. They were able to host some of their regular events throughout the year, including a speaker series, and their signature winterfest event was held in november, where not only did we have 400+ ladies back in a room for an in-person event, but we still conducted an online raffle that raised a record amount of money overall. Dollars raised from wu fundraising efforts are allocated to programs that support at-risk women and children in lake county, and go through the same process as the el group. Because of their efforts, women united was able to allocate 90,000 to their mission-driven programs. Under the leadership of dione demitro, UWLC continues to be more visible in the lake county community and involved in several community projects, initiatives, and partnerships. We have partnered on herofest, an event to raise funds for first responders, have grown our role in the annual back to school bash, and aim to collaborate and help fill funding gaps with the initiation of our responsive fund grants process.