MANKATO — Greater Mankato Area United Way on Monday celebrated successfully raising $2,350,000 for this year’s fundraising campaign.
The total represents a $100,000 increase from last year, according to CEO Barb Kaus, who said it meant so much to hit that goal.
“There’s so many people of need that are depending on it,” she said.
United Way supports 65 programs inside 44 agencies; they fall under basic needs, health and education.
Benefitting nonprofits include the Mankato Family YMCA and VINE Faith in Action. Recovery community organization Beyond Brink also receives funding.
Founding Director Brandy Brink said the money they get from United Way goes toward a couple of programs, including one that provides basic needs for their clients and another that supports their harm reduction team.
Work from these programs could involve housing application assistance or Narcan training, which teaches people how to administer naloxone to counteract overdoses.
Brink, who said the organization has been working with United Way since about 2019, said the assistance has made an impact for them.
“To be honest, the other programs that they support, every single one of our program participants utilizes many of the other programs that United Way supports, and so it’s really just a collaborative effort where we can refer folks to some of the other programs that are supported by United Way,” she said.
“I’m very excited. Hearing that they met their campaign goal speaks volumes to our community … That’s a result of our community coming together. That’s just really exciting.”
United Way Chief Operating Officer Laura Murray said everything the organization does comes back to the community.
“That is also the case for the agencies that we support because it’s a community-led vetting process,” she said. “It’s community members going out and understanding the major impact that these great programs have.”
Murray says United Way has hit its fundraising goal for about nine consecutive years or since Kaus has been CEO.
United Way is still accepting donations; those interested can visit mankatounitedway.org.