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Shia Knight is an 11 year-old Luther Memorial student who was in need of completing community service hours over the summer. That's when Shia's mom Kelina, who is the East Middle School secretary, reached out to Rachel Pierce community school director. Kelina and Shia were looking for opportunities to give back to East and Rachel knew just the way to have Shia help!

Shia participated in East's Random Acts of Kindness campaign from home, writing 150 postcards with positive messaging to be sent to East students who were identified as being in need of encouragement in what we all know are very challenging times - especially for students!

This was the first time Rachel had engaged with a volunteer remotely and it was a huge success! Students will receive these post cards this year to help encourage them to continue to engage in learning as well as remind them that the East family is still there for them while virtual learning and the pandemic continues.

Mercyhurst University serves as the lead partner to Diehl Elementary, a United Way community school. Recently, Mercyhurst's campus ministry team joined together to make Halloween take and make kits for kindergarten - second grade students at Diehl.

Updated list of free Thanksgiving meals provided in Erie County this year.

United Way of Erie County’s Erie FREE Taxes program is in urgent need of community members interested in becoming IRS-certified volunteer tax preparers for the 2021 tax filing season. 

Earlier this month, United Way announced the hiring of Julie Chacona as Director of Major Gifts. Learn more about Julie in this Q&A.

United Way of Erie County is pleased to announce the hiring of Julie Chacona as Director of Major Gifts. Julie is an Erie native and has a rich history of service to the community. She earned Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism with a double minor in Fine Arts and Economics from Boston College and holds fundraising certificates from Indiana University Lilly School of Fundraising.

United Way of Erie County has announced a $2,500 grant to Sisters of Saint Joseph Neighborhood Network to support their efforts to address food insecurity for City of Erie residents. The funds will be used to offset costs associated with the organization’s Little Italy Farmer’s Market and the neighborhood soup kitchen held over the summer. 

Are you interested in helping tax fliers in our community without it costing a fortune? If you could, would you give them the chance to save for a future emergency fund or their child's education?

When volunteering with Erie FREE Taxes, a program funded through United Way of Erie County, you are giving community members a better chance to succeed and save, rather than spend, when it comes to their taxes!

Through our FREE provided training, you are able to become an official IRS-certified tax filer. No experience is needed. During this time, it's more crucial than ever to help our community where we can. Register to support our community today!

Check out our updated Erie FREE Taxes web page to find out how you can help or follow the volunteer registration form here: https://www.unitedwayerie.org/learn/eriefreetaxes/volunteer-registration/

Since the ending of the 2019 tax season in July, United Way's Erie FREE Taxes program has calculated a total of $99 million in federal tax refunds since its start in 2007. Erie FREE Taxes provides assistance to eligible individuals with filing their taxes. Through this program, tax filers are able to obtain the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). To date, over 21,000 EITC have been claimed, resulting in over $38 million in EITC returns. 

This years award goes to... Robin Scheppner!

Award presentation and honorary reception to be celebrated in 2021.

As summer draws to an end, it's time to get back into the school routine. This year, United Way community schools will "open their doors" in a partial or full virtual setting. We know this transition can be confusing for most and United Way of Erie County is here to help! 

Earlier this year, Congress enacted the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and. Economic Security) to help citizens financially recover during the pandemic. This act enables 120 million Americans to deduct up to $300 worth of donations to charities from their taxes they file in 2020!

We’re fast approaching harvest season! This means all 14 of our community school gardens are filled with full grown, healthy, and delicious produce for families to pick up and enjoy. Usually this produce would go towards the kid’s school lunches, but since we are virtually learning this fall, this produce needs to find a new home... in your kitchen!

United Way of Erie County along with representatives from partners Erie’s Public Schools, Gannon University and UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Safe Harbor announced the details of a recent grant award from the U.S. Department of Education. This grant, the largest single award to United Way in the organization’s 105-year history, will further support United Way’s community schools initiative aimed at removing barriers to learning so students and their families can succeed. The federal grant will total $2,031,397 over the course of a five-year grant period. The amount is 27.5% of the total costs of the project. 72.5% of the total costs of the project will be financed by non-governmental sources.

United Way is pleased to announce the funding of 19 neighborhood organization projects totaling $14,000 in mini-grants.

While traditional school doors have closed, the doors to opportunity for students and their families continue to be wide open thanks to United Way's community schools model. Transformational work is happening through United Way's community schools model in our community each and everyday. Check out how United Way's community schools are helping beyond school walls.

United Way's Raising Readers initiative has released a Summer Bucket List and Self-Care Tip Sheet for Parents and Caregivers.

The Raising Readers initiative is looking at three factors to help our students become proficient readers by third grade: School Readiness, School Attendance, and Summer Learning.

The development and distribution of these resources falls under the work of the Summer Learning subcommittee. Summer Learning is supporting families and students over the summer months. The “summer slide” is what often happens to disadvantaged children during the summer months. They tread water at best or even fall behind, while higher-income children build their skills steadily over the summer months. Teachers then spend the first quarter of the school year re-teaching material from the previous school year. With the COVID pandemic hitting our children especially hard, United Way is additionally focused on what we're calling the "COVID slide," learning loss as a result of the COVID pandemic.

The Erie County Emergency Food and Shelter Program Board recently granted a total of $311,294 in funding to local organizations providing services to Erie County residents in the following categories: 

• Emergency food
• Temporary housing (hotel/motel vouchers)
• Rent or mortgage payment assistance
• Utility bill payment assistance

This year, our community received more than double last year's funding as a result of provisions in the CARES Act. This is vital funding for our community, and it will help address needs that have become elevated due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

Emergency Food and Shelter Program Funding is intended to supplement existing programs and grant recipients follow specific documentation guidelines. This round of Emergency Food and Shelter Program Funding must be spent by December 31, 2020.