United Way board members Pat Stevermer and Chuck Spaeth, representing Sleepy Eye, helped raise over $4,440 for this year’s campaign. Businesses participating this year were: ISD #84, Brown County REA, Chuck Spaeth Ford, Divine Providence Community Home, First Security Agency, Lifetime Eyecare Center, Stark Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, City of Sleepy Eye, Hauser and Schmid, Mark Thomas Company, Peterson Well Drilling, Randy’s Family Drug and Gift and Zinniel Electric.
All of the money raised in the county is re-allocated for a variety of programs. Sleepy Eye benefited from the Youth Scholarship program which provides money to families who can’t afford to pay for extra-curricular or enrichment programs offered either through the school or through private programs. The scholarship will cover 90 percent of the cost, and $2,690 has been received by Sleepy Eye youth in the past 12 months. Applications are available at all the schools and requests are reviewed every month.
Another program sponsored by United Way of Brown County and our local Salvation Army chapter is a backpack project that provided 52 backpacks filled with school supplies to all Sleepy Eye youth in grades K-8 who would not have had the necessary supplies to start school. That program will be continued next fall.
Sleepy Eye also participated in the Annual Day of Caring held last October. With coordination from Julie Terrell, program director for Volunteers for Seniors Serving Brown County, teams from local businesses and school youth groups offered their services to help anyone with window washing, yard clean-up, or any other job that a Sleepy Eye citizen may not have been able to do.
United Way provides funding to 37 agencies. They include Healthy Communities/Healthy Youth, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Red Cross, ProKinship for Kids, Volunteers for Seniors of Brown County, Senior Nutrition Program and many more.
All the dollars raised for the United Way stay in Brown County to support the programs and local chapters of these organizations.
