BYU faculty and staff come together to make a difference in the Utah County community.
The United Way Campaign has been a long-standing, annual tradition for BYU. Every September, United Way provides BYU employees with an opportunity to make a one-time cash or check donation or deduct a certain amount from their paychecks if they would like to donate. And every year, our BYU family shows just how much they want to make a difference in the lives of community members and their families.
Last fall, BYU again participated in the United Way Workplace Campaign to raise money to address various community needs. Volunteers delivered thousands of donation letters to faculty and staff around the university. At the end of the campaign, the total donation amount from all faculty and staff was $212,010.
The donations received on BYU’s behalf provided the opportunity for every school teacher in Utah County to get training in Everyday Strong, a resilience program which helps young students with anxiety and depression. United Way also allocated funds towards increasing literacy among members of the Utah County community. United Way has prioritized servicing “areas of high impact” in our community, which maximize the impact of donations’ and provide children in our community, including future BYU students, with foundations and resiliency they might not have otherwise.
At the meeting to report on the success of the campaign, President Worthen quoted Deuteronomy 6:11, “And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full.” President Worthen expressed gratitude to the faculty and staff for “paying forward” their resources to help our community.
Although the BYU United Way fund drive officially ended in fall semester, donations are welcome anytime throughout the year at https://ur.byu.edu/unitedway/getinvolved.