United Way of Erie County and Niche Hard At Work This Holiday Season

With Thanksgiving almost a week behind us, and Christmas fast approaching, it isn't uncommon to see widespread participation in charitable causes. This time of year is after all not only a time to be thankful for the things we do have, but to do our best as a community to help those in need. While many community members worked food drives over Thanksgiving, or at the very least have been dropping their spare change in Salvation Army donation buckets, United Way of Erie County has been hard at work preparing various programs to reduce the effects of poverty in our region.

Most recently, United Way has collaborated with Niche Team LLC., a local marketing company, in order to set up an effort to "Fill the Truck" this Thursday night with much needed items for our community's overflow homeless shelters. The collection will take place at the Erie Club during one of Niche's monthly networking events where more than 50 area business men and women will contribute to the cause. In regards to the role of homeless overflow shelters in our region, United Way community building manager, Mike Jaruszewicz, had this to say:

"The overflow shelter originally started by Community Shelter Services is a great example of collaboration among social service organizations involved in the Home Team and other partners to address a critical community issue. A warm and safe place to sleep is an essential human need and the support of the entire Erie community is needed to sustain the overflow shelter."

United Way of Erie County provides financial support for such shelters, and through this event with Niche, members hope to garner further support in the form of donated items such as hotel-sized toiletries, breakfast bars, coffee, winter coats, gloves, hats,  scarves, and thermal undershirts. These provisions will go a long way to improving the lives of those who rely on the overflow shelters for support in these winter months. 

As it stands, this event represents a collaborative effort between United Way and Niche to strengthen relations between community business leaders, and service organizations in our region. Continued growth and support for such programs will ultimately prove beneficial not only to those in need, but to our community at large. So in the spirit of the holiday season, take note of events like this, and be sure to do your part for less fortunate members of our community whenever you can.