The power of community

Thank you

Childcare for essential workers. Personal protection equipment for employees and residents at group homes and homeless shelters. Food, rent, and utility assistance. The needs were great and thankfully money raised for our Emerging Needs Fund are helping us meet the needs of those most impacted by the pandemic. We asked people to Live United. They did.

The following are just a few of the highlights of impact your donation has had on our neighbors in need. They're a testament to our communty's generosity and heart.

"We're always honored when organizations like yours recognize the needs of our community and partner with us to make a positive impact. We are so grateful."

We don't take those kind words from Sherry Pitney at Rockford Rescue Mission lightly. The work we've been able to support, thanks to our donors' overwhelming generosity, is so vital during this pandemic. Work like that of Rockford Rescue Mission, where our community's homeless and struggling populations are continuing to be housed thanks to the washable, germ-resistant mattresses that are preventing the spread of COVID-19 there, which were purchased thanks to money from our Emerging Needs Fund.

At the Goldie B. Floberg Center in Rockton, our community's residents with developmental disabilities continue to have their lives broadened thanks to our donors, whose gifts have helped the center continue to operate even during such difficult circumstances.

Money given to The Jerricho Project has allowed that organizaton to keep serving those locally who suffer from addiction, former offenders, veterans, and the impoverished — helping them sustain sobriety, have jobs, and reconcile with their families, even with the weight of a global pandemic on top of it all.

And vitally, organizations like Rock House Kids, the Rock River Valley Pantry, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, and so many others, have used donations from our Emerging Needs Fund to keep their pantries stocked, and provide food to those most impacted by COVID-19. With places like the Rock River Valley Pantry seeing the number of residents they provide emergency food to increase by 20 percent, your donations have literally saved lives during this pandemic.

Please, see below for how each round of grant allocations through our Emerging Needs Fund were distributed and used by organizations and nonprofits to keep our community safe, healthy, and brighten the future for us all.