Contact Us
Unit 100, 4828 53 Street
Red Deer, Alberta T4N 2E8
phone: 1-403-343-3900
email: info@caunitedway.ca
Wildfires are continuing to cause significant damage, disruption, and heartbreak for residents in both Northwest Territories and British Columbia. Over 20,000 people, including some United Way Northwest Territories volunteers, have been evacuated from Yellowknife, most seeking shelter in Alberta.
During a time of disaster or significant challenge affecting Albertans, 211 Alberta maintains an up-to-date list of resources that can help people who have been impacted and provides data on the most requested needs and unmet needs of callers. Providing 24/7 service.
For organizations and frontline workers, this mean you can focus on providing services to clients and rely on 211 to stay up to date on the ever-changing landscape of community and government supports. For individual who need help or who are looking to help, 211 can direct you to the right place.
Services are emerging to support those impacted by the wildfires. Contact 211 for information about currently available services. You’ll reach someone who can work with you to see what community services are available in your area.
If you provide services in Alberta, contact database@ab.211.ca as soon as possible to update 211 about any changes to your services.
Many Albertans want to know how they can help during a crisis. 211 Alberta partners with VolunteerConnector.org to help Albertans find opportunities to be of service in their communities. Those who want to volunteer can contact 211 to find out about available volunteer positions based on their skills, interests and how they want to help. 211 staff can also coach people on how to use the Volunteer Connector website on their own.
Join us as we kick off our 2023 Campaign with our spotlight directly on Brighter Futures, Mental Health and Basic Needs.
Our Campaign Kickoff Lunch, presented by Johnston Ming Manning LLP, will once again be hosted at the Red Deer Resort & Casino on September 7th, 2023.
Your ticket includes a gourmet lunch, inspiring stories and a chance to connect with your community. Come cheer on all of those helping us create a Central Alberta where everyone can thrive!
Back to school time is always exciting, especially when you have everything you need for learning! But not everyone has that opportunity. United Way Central Alberta and the Outreach Centre present Tools for School, which aims to reduce one known barrier preventing children and youth from successful learning and participation in school. Annually, Tools for School provides backpacks and school supplies to students in kindergarten through Grade 12 whose families have limited resources. While the school supplies included may not exactly match your school’s supply list, they’re a great start. Through support of community donors and corporate sponsors, we continue to meet the needs of children and youth in our community.
Help Tools for School be a catalyst to bring together education, public and corporate sectors.
Sanjel Energy Services Red Deer recently challenged their employees to some friendly competition, encouraging each team to collect the most school supplies.
Not only was this a great team engagement initiative but Sanjel Energy Services was gracious enough to match their employee giving, doubling their impact right here in Central Alberta.
Their generosity led to 73 fully stuffed backpacks for us to provide to families who have limited resources.
Are you up to the challenge?!
Red Deer/June 30, 2023 – United Way Central Alberta (UWCA) is pleased to announce the allocation of $517,500 in multi-year funding to 15 programs across Central Alberta. This funding is part of UWCA’s ongoing commitment to strengthening vital connections that support individuals in need and creating thriving communities where everyone can reach their potential.
UWCA’s updated vision, mission statement, Strategic Plan and Community Impact (CI) Strategy have played significant roles in determining the programs to be supported. In alignment with these new guidelines, UWCA has made strategic adjustments to ensure that the funded programs are better aligned with their vision and mission.
These allocations include an increased commitment to Indigenous-led programming. 23% of the total funding has been directed towards supporting initiatives that specifically address the needs and aspirations of Indigenous communities. This represents a significant increase from 7% in the previous round of funding.
“We are thrilled to provide substantial support to programs that are making a positive impact on the lives of individuals and families in Central Alberta,” said Chelsea O’Donoghue, Chief Executive Officer at United Way Central Alberta. “By increasing our percentage of investment in Indigenous-led programming, we are taking steps towards our commitment to reconciliation & diversity, equity and inclusion while working towards creating thriving communities where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.”
Below is a comprehensive list of the 15 programs that will benefit from this round of three-year funding. Each program has undergone a rigorous review process and cover a wide range of needs, including education, mental health, poverty alleviation, and community development.
United Way Central Alberta would like to extend its gratitude to the community partners, donors, and volunteers who have generously contributed to making this funding allocation possible. Their continued support plays a vital role in enabling United Way Central Alberta to fulfill its mission of strengthening connections and fostering thriving communities.
United Way of Central Alberta’s GenNext group is collecting donations to build Summer Care Kits filled with essentials to be provided to people in need across Central Alberta via our partner agencies. The Summer Care Kit Donation Drive helps raise awareness around community needs throughout Central Alberta while also providing basic needs to local populations. Thanks to our community partner, Canadian Tire Gas +, we will be hosting a drive thru donation event to help make it easier for you to support your community. Drive thru, drop your donations and say hi to our next generation of community leaders.
Do you have a local business that would like to become one of our proud Donation Drive Drop Locations? Please email fonda@caunitedway.ca for more information. The more local businesses we have participating, the more people we can help!
Proud Donation Drop Locations:
Our GenNext crew want to say a huge THANK YOU to all of those who stopped by with donations, Zed 98.9 Red Deer & Real Country 95.5 for helping get the word out, Canadian Tire Gas+ for hosting us!!!! We had the privelge of surprising our friends over at Turning Point Society with all the summer essentials collected. Not only did we get to provide hot ticket items but your monetary contributions allowed us to give over $100 in gift cards for clients.
On March 6, 2023 community leaders, donors and volunteers gathered to celebrate the 2022 United Way campaign as well as the support, generosity and spirit that makes United Way so important in our community.
2022 was a year of transition for United Way Central Alberta (UWCA). In addition to its traditional fundraising campaign, outreach and community collaboration, UWCA undertook a complete update of its Strategic Plan and Community Impact Strategy to best position itself to improve lives in the region in the next three years of post-pandemic recovery.
These updates ensure United Way Central Alberta can best deliver on our new vision of creating thriving communities where everyone can reach their potential and our new mission of strengthening vital connections that support people in need across our communities.
Despite an extremely challenging economic environment, over $1,608,000 was raised locally over the past year through workplace campaigns and individual donations. These funds will provide much needed resources to our local social sector.
United Way Central Alberta is also delivering $997,000 into the hands of non-profits and charities across our region as part of the federal government Community Services Recovery Fund (CSRF). Applications are currently under review with the funds being delivered to non-profits in our region in July of this year.
Through CSRF applications, UWCA had just under $1 million to give to our region but fielded $2.5 million in requests. That discrepancy between requests and money to deliver speaks to the need in our community.
With multi year community grant applications opening on March 13, 2023, we know we will have more requests than what we have to give. We see the need and challenges faced by our social sector first hand and they are not taken lightly. Every effort is being made to ensure that as many dollars as possible will be invested directly into our community and our new Community Impact strategy will ensure we make the greatest impact in the areas of the greatest need.
Our utmost thanks goes out to every workplace, business, or person who donated to United Way this past year. The impact we have in our region is only possible because of you and all of the hard work and passion you dedicate to United Way.
We are also extremely grateful for our volunteers who make our work possible. This includes our Campaign Cabinet, Community Impact Council, Board of Directors, DEI Committee, GenNext and our Scotch Committee. Thank you to each and everyone one of you for choosing to share your time and talent with us.
We hold such appreciation for our United Way Client Ambassadors. They are some of our bravest and most helpful champions. United Way funds programs delivered by local agencies. Our Client Ambassadors are people who have been personally impacted by these programs, and throughout campaign and the whole year, these folks help connect donors to the impact of their dollars. They share their stories to let people know how the programs, that receive your donations, have helped them and made their lives better.
The evening program also included presenting our 2022 United Way Central Alberta campaign awards. These awards celebrate the support, generosity and spirit that makes United Way so important in our community. Congratulations to all of our nominees and winners! We are so thankful for all that you do.
Award of Excellence
These awards are presented to the 2022 workplace campaigns that raised the most dollars for United Way Central Alberta.
Innovation Award
This award is presented to the organization who used new and innovated ideas to generate big payoffs for the United Way and building a stronger community together.
Winner: Dow Canada – Prentiss Site
Rising Star Award
This award is presented to the workplace campaign that generated significant increase in donors and dollars over the previous year.
Winner: INEOS Canada Partnership – Joffre
Outstanding Employee Campaign Chair Award
This award is presented to the ECC that showed innovation, teamwork, and enthusiasm in the promotion and executing of their workplace campaign – achieving stronger than expected results in the workplace.
Winner: Kayle Yonkman | MEGlobal – Prentiss
Local Love Award
This award is presented to a local organization that demonstrated excellence in the execution of their workplace campaign and support of United Way.
Winner: Scott Builders Inc.
Education and Engagement Award
This award is presented to the organization or community initiative that increased awareness of community needs and the mission of United Way and the impact donations have on our community.
Winner: NOVA Chemicals – Joffre
Funded Partnership Award
This award is presented to the United Way Funded Partner that has shown outstanding partnership and collaboration throughout the past year.
Winner: COSMOS Red Deer
Everyday Hero Award
This award recognizes organizations that have demonstrated excellence in engaging their customers with the impact of United Way and the work of improving local lives.
Winner: Central Alberta Co-op Ltd.
Community Builder Award
This award recognizes a business that takes action all year round to show their local love to make a positive impact in their community.
Winner: MNP LLP
Video by Jess Andrykew, TBC Media
Unit 100, 4828 53 Street
Red Deer, Alberta T4N 2E8
phone: 1-403-343-3900
email: info@caunitedway.ca