Heartland United Way seeking to eliminate childhood poverty

Posted: Wednesday, September 28, 2016 10:27 pm | Updated: 11:03 pm, Thu Sep 29, 2016.

By Robert Pore

 

Working hard to reduce childhood poverty in Hall, Hamilton, Howard and Merrick counties, the Heartland United Way kicked off its 70th fundraising campaign on Wednesday.

A full house was in attendance at the Riverside Golf Club for the event. United Way officials hope to raise more than $1.4 million for 16 partnering agencies.

 

Ron Depue, who is leading the Hall County effort this year, said decreasing childhood poverty will dramatically improve the quality of thousands of young lives in the four counties served by the Heartland United Way.

“Without the help of these partnering agencies, many of these kids out there do not have that prospect,” Depue said. “That’s why we adopted our goal to work to eliminate childhood poverty as a priority.”

He said the campaign is off to a great start as JBS completed its campaign this summer and raised a record $70,000.

 

Businesses, such as JBS, raise approximately 70 percent of the Heartland United Way’s campaign goal. So far, the campaign has raised $284,000 toward its $1.4 million goal.

Heartland United Way President Karen Rathke said it’s important to “think differently about how to use each of our strengths, our time and our treasures to decrease childhood poverty.”

She said that, in the Heartland United Way area, one in five children live in poverty and 120 children are currently in foster care. The number of teens giving birth is twice the state average.

 

Rathke said 4,340 children in the four counties are food insecure.

“That means they don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and the national average age for a homeless person is 9 years old,” she said.

 

The federal poverty level for a family of four is $24,500, but Rathke said there are 2,276 families who live on less than $25,000 a year in the Heartland United Way area.

“When children think they are on an adventure, and the reality is that they are homeless and living in a tent by the Loup River, we need to do more,” she said.

 

Rathke said the goal to reduce childhood poverty is a “call to action.”

“Our call to think and act differently and together means that we need businesses, churches, law enforcement, schools, health care providers, nonprofits, elected officials, etc., to join our fight for every person in every community,” she said.

 

Speaking to the Heartland United Way theme of reducing childhood poverty during the campaign kickoff were Grand Island Public Schools Superintendent Tawana Grover, the Rev. Luke Biggs of Peace Lutheran Church and Mayor Jeremy Jensen.

Grover said poverty makes it more difficult for children to succeed in school.

“For many of the children, they experience violence, neglect, poor clothing and often cannot afford to attend extracurricular activities, field trips, and for most of them, in their current situation, college is not an option,” she said.

 

Grover said it’s important for the community to come together and provide the chance for many young children living in poverty to have something positive happen that will provide the hope they need.

“It is not a time for us to compete. It is a time for us to collaborate and innovate as that is how we will begin to close the cracks that our students often fall through,” she said.

 

Biggs left the audience with two words to better put the Heartland United Way drive into perspective, “what if?”

“I don’t think any of us here need a lot of coaching to understand the impacts and effects of childhood poverty,” he said.

If all the faith communities in the Heartland United Way area would gather up volunteers to serve in the fight against childhood poverty, Biggs said, it would be a great accomplishment in that battle.

 

Jensen, drawing from his impoverished childhood, said he wants Grand Island not only to be a destination for his own kids, but also for other young people. He said quality job growth, median income increases, a solid education system, quality affordable housing, recreational and commerce options, along with public safety, are all important to the elimination of childhood poverty.

 

It was also announced that Tom and Kim Dinsdale have donated two cars to the United Way campaign. Twelve people who donate $270 or more to the United Way campaign will have a chance to win the first car through the United Way’s 12 Keys of Christmas event. The second car will be given away the night of the drawing, Thursday, Dec. 15, to someone attending the event.