The United Way of Eastern Utah just finished up their annual Angel Tree Program to assist low-income families, senior citizens and disabled adults in the local area. Castle Country Radio was able to sit down with Executive Director, Megan Cummings to discuss all the details.
The Angel Tree Program not only provides Christmas gifts to individuals and families but they also put them in touch with local resources. “So the goal is not that a new gift is just going to suddenly, snap my finger and everything is better, but to spread a little joy, and also to connect folks with other resources. So when folks sign up for Angel Tree we say, also, there’s this wonderful budgeting class and here are some more resources and some other things that hopefully help people become more financially stable, that’s of course that is one of the goals of United Way,” stated Cummings. United Way would not be able to host a successful Angel Tree Program if it wasn’t for the generous sponsors like Castleview Hospital, Eastern Utah Community Credit Union, The Clampers, East Carbon City and the many community members/families that adopted Angels this year.
A highlight from this year is the new board members were chosen and it was nice to get a representative from Grand and San Juan Counties. “Well I started in January and it was a great undertaking from the beginning. One of the first things I noticed was we serve, we’re suppose to serve these seven counties, Daggett, Duchesne, Uintah, Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan. A lot of United Way’s focus had traditionally been in Carbon County. So one of the things that sticks out to me is bringing on a couple of new board members over the summer from San Juan and Grand Counties and I think getting some representation down there, laying the ground work for more efficiently serving our whole service area,” stated Cummings. Having representation from other counties helps United Way better serve those communities.
United Way of Eastern Utah recently received a grant to help with their Sole 2 Souls Shoe Program and to the Live.Love.Local Cancer Assistance Program. “We just got a grant from Sorenson Foundation for $10,000.00 and that is specific to expand our shoe program and our Live.Love.Local Cancer Assistance Program into all of those areas. So kids that need shoes, not just in Carbon County but that entire service area, we’re going to be trying to put shoes on feet,” said Cummings.
To learn more about the services offered at United Way of Eastern Utah visit their website at https://www.uweu.org/