Add to the Joy of the Season: Support the United Tompkins Impact Fund

‘Tis the season of joy, generosity, and community. For many, gatherings of family and friends mark the “return to light” that has begun with the Winter Solstice. For some, gatherings may occur, though with scant resources to share, let alone with which to survive the coldest months of the year. For United Way of Tompkins County, reflection and action are two sides of the same coin. Through recognition of priority needs identified by human service agencies and community-based organizations, we are able exercise response-ability to support those agencies and organizations to assist households who yearn to move forward toward sufficiency and sustainability. We seek to bring a human touch to – to humanize – the experience of poverty or shortfall in closing the gap for people to make ends meet.

I salute the service providers with whom we have the honor of collaborating. Organizations like Foodnet Meals on Wheels and Loaves and Fishes, agencies like Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS) and Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca. They – alongside other service partners – strengthen the making of Tompkins County a livable place for all.

Today, food insecurity is on the rise in the United States. The USDA recently released data showing that 12.8% of households are food insecure (up from 10.2% in 2021). Homelessness, at 653,0100 across the United States in 2023, is at its highest level ever – 12% higher than one year ago. These numbers should not just give us pause, but also to see them for what they are: a scandal in the richest country in the world. I for one am reminded that if we seek to be a “first responder,” honoring the human dignity of each person must be at the core of our outreach.

When my college classmates opened a soup kitchen at Broadway Presbyterian Church and a shelter at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church on the upper West Side of Manhattan four decades ago, I did not anticipate the economics of exclusion and the denial of opportunity that have contributed to making life so difficult for so many. I did, however, see the impacts of loneliness, alienation, illness, and loss of family supports and single-room occupancy housing on people with whom I conversed: it could easily have been my friends or family or me.

We are renaming the fund that supports community agencies through the next two year cycle, the United Tompkins Impact Fund. We aim to have an impact on both the experience of poverty and the dynamics which lead to poverty. To achieve our goals, I invite you to participate in our campaign, United in Action, so that we can be “United Tompkins” in bearing light in the lives of our neighbors who are not “other” but rather “us”. You are part of making this vision a reality. Let’s take the power of the joy of this season, sauté it with generosity, and strengthen our community’s capacity to thrive in ways beyond our imagination

-- Michael Ramos,
President & CEO

CLICK HERE to Give a Gift Today!

Join Us for Our 2024 Community Partner Meetings & Learn More About Volunteer Tompkins

Please register for one of the following to learn more about UWTC’s United Tompkins Impact Fund and Volunteer Tompkins:

Monday, January 8, 1 – 2:30pm at Open Access Detox and Rehabilitation Center, 2353 N. Triphammer Road

Tuesday, January 9, 2:15 – 3:45pm at Lifelong, 119 W. Court Street

Onboarding for VOLUNTEER TOMPKINS: We also have an invitation to share with you for your calendars or to register now for an in-person onboarding and social event that you and/or your volunteer coordinator can register for below. UWTC will also be holding several onboarding sessions after this initial one, so if you cannot attend but want to engage with VOLUNTEER TOMPKINS please email back and we will get you on your way! Please see the link below the Cornell invite and register your volunteer coordinator point person there, and the UWTC staff will reach out with future updates.

If you have any questions, please email Allison Hartman at [email protected]

The David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement at Cornell is excited to invite you to our next community partnership gathering!

Thursday January 11, 2024 3-4pm, location TBD (with additional mingling 4pm-?)

RSVP here.

We hope you’ll join us!

In addition to connecting with each other, you will have the opportunity to build relationships with other Cornell staff who are interested in finding a partner for their students to serve with. We also will offer preliminary information on the GivePulse platform – to launch at Cornell on February 15 – which allows you to post your volunteer opportunities so that they are visible to the Tompkins County and Cornell communities.

Holiday Hours & End of Year Giving!

You can donate anytime online at https://www.uwtc.org/give

Alternatively, you can mail us a check or drop it off in our secure mailbox and as long as it's postmarked by December 31st, 2023, we will apply it to 2023.

If you prefer, we will be happy to see you in person or take your phone call to (607) 500-GIVE to receive your year-end gifts at the UWTC office!

Every gift matters as we work every day to ensure a brighter future for our community!

313 N. Aurora St. Ithaca, NY, 14850

Park for free when dropping off your gift in person by using our driveway and parking around back!

CLICK HERE to Give a Gift Today!