Member News

LEBANON COUNTY, PA: United Way of Lebanon County awarded $186,000 in Community Impact Grants to 20 Lebanon County nonprofit health and human service organizations.

The organizations that received Community Impact Grants in June were Lebanon Family Health Services, Compeer Lebanon, Making a Difference of Lebanon, Girls on the Run, Lebanon County Christian Ministries, Potential Reentry Opportunities in Business and Education (P.R.O.B.E), Luthercare, Sexual Assault Resource Counseling Center SARCC, St. James Players, Union Community Care, Lebanon YMCA, Salem Lutheran Church, Power Packs, Nick Services, Cedar Closet, Lebanon County Libraries, Domestic Violence Intervention of Lebanon County, Inc, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Casa of Lebanon County, and Phoenix Youth Center. United Way of Lebanon County Community Impact Grants are funded through community contributions to its Annual Giving Campaign. Grantmaking is enabled by a committee of volunteers that includes both United Way board members and community volunteers who serve on the Board of Directors Community Impact Committee. Check presentations were made in person to each grantee by members of the Impact Committee. The check presentations are the culmination of a 6-month annual cycle of United Way of Lebanon County grant making activity. A request for proposals was issued in early December and the proposal review process concluded in May. 

The Community Impact Committee reviewed twenty grant applications in several group meetings over two months and met in-person with leaders of each applicant organization to assure full understanding of the applicant organizations, their proposals, and the intended social impact of the programs for which they requested grants. The Community Impact Committee made recommendations to the United Way of Lebanon County Board of Directors about the organizations to which grants should be awarded and the amount of each grant. The Board of Directors approved the committee’s recommendations at its May meeting.

Information for Community Impact Grants can be found on the United Way of Lebanon website. You can find pictures and organizations that received grant funding along with information about United Way’s focus areas at www.unitedwaylebco.org/grants.

With two in five Lebanon County households struggling to meet basic needs, the grants are made annually and have had a profound impact on our community, making a difference in the lives of thousands of children and families throughout the county by ensuring that vital services are available for those less fortunate when they’re needed most. United Way of Lebanon County Community Impact Grants enable pathways to education and financial self-dependence for Lebanon Valley residents. They are investments in service programs that improve family stability and upward financial mobility, as well as youth success programs and early childhood education initiatives that remove barriers to learning for our most vulnerable children and help all Lebanon County children to have a strong start in life. They are focused on three areas of community need, which is to provide a hand up to our neighbors in need to help improve economic self-dependence, financial mobility, and family stability, ensure equal access to educational opportunities, improve academic performance, and increase family security so that students can reach their full potential, and create a strong foundation, build resiliency, and strengthen family stability so that children can learn, grow and thrive, while reaching critical milestones. The grants are one of the four ways United Way of Lebanon County invests donated funds back into the community. The others are ongoing investment in Lebanon County United Way Signature Service Programs.

Signature Service programs:

=       Communities in Schools of Pennsylvania (CISPA): Through Communities in Schools, Lebanon County United Way helps students at three local elementary schools (Union Canal Elementary, Northwest Elementary, and Ebenezer Elementary) and their families to gain access to the community resources they need overcome obstacles, unlock their potential and thrive. The program funds highly trained personnel to work in the schools alongside school staff to help address students’ basic needs and academic, behavior and attendance issues.

=       211 Resource Hotline: Lebanon County 211 is a free, confidential telephone hotline and web-based service that connects county residents in need to dozens of local health and human service agencies. The 211 Call Center is staffed with trained call specialists who help more than 4,000 callers find local and regional resources to meet their essential needs, such as access to food and housing, keeping their utilities on, dealing with substance abuse, mental and physical health needs, and more.

=       Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA): VITA is a free income tax preparation and filing service for individuals and families earning less than $62,000 in the tax year. In the 2023 tax year IRS-certified VITA volunteers prepared and filed 820 tax returns for households with an average income of $28,000. Those households received $889,000 federal and state tax refunds and tax credits. The free service also saved those households more than $80,000 in fees to tax preparers.

=       Volunteer Lebanon Portal: Volunteer Lebanon is an online portal where non-profit organizations can post their volunteer opportunities for volunteers in the community to see. Volunteer Lebanon is a hub for volunteerism with over 2,700 registered volunteers and over 80 different organizations throughout Lebanon County. Organizations can post their opportunities in front of volunteers who are eager to lend a hand. The Volunteer Lebanon portal has been used in the past to facilitate the United Way of Lebanon County’s Day of Caring event. Day of Caring is the largest volunteer initiative in Lebanon County, for Lebanon County. Over forty different projects, where cleanups of parks, waterways, and other beautification projects around the county take place. Over four hundred volunteers were able to log onto the portal, page through different projects, and sign up to be part of the 2024 Day of Caring.

The United Way of Lebanon County’s next event comes Saturday, July 13^th and 20^th for their Stuff the Bus event, where individuals and businesses around the county donate supplies for local students in need. Donation drop off is 9am to 12pm at the Lebanon YMCA Train Depot at 250 N. 8^th Street in Lebanon.