Your 2021 Holiday Giving Guide
At United Way, we understand that we can make an incredible impact in this community when we unite together. And with the holiday season, there’s a desire in the air to give back and help others.
Our St. Louis community completed 190 holiday volunteer opportunities, including 13 virtual volunteer opportunities, last holiday season.
This year, you can make an impact by joining us in helping people live their best possible lives. Here are four ways to give back this holiday season.
1. Make volunteering a holiday tradition.
As families, friends and co-workers come together (virtually and in-person) to celebrate the season, it’s a chance to embrace the giving season spirit. Start a new holiday tradition by exploring United Way’s Volunteer Center’s Holiday Volunteer Guide.
Our Volunteer Center has plenty of opportunities to help you discover your love for giving back while getting involved. From making DIY holiday wreaths to creating goodie bags for children to testing holiday lights, our Holiday Volunteer Guide has dozens of holiday-themed opportunities to make an impact in our community.
Go from ordinary to extraordinary by helping those in need this holiday season.
2. Brighten the holidays for those in need.
Every year, our 100 Neediest Cases program helps thousands of individuals and families have a brighter holiday season. This year, there are 4,230 families and individuals who can use a little extra support with essential items like winter coats, warm meals, or gas to get to work.
You can feel confident that every gift makes a difference. 100 Neediest Cases is run by volunteers in partnership with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, so 100% of donations go directly to local people in need.
There are three ways to support the program:
- Adopt a family
- Host a virtual fundraiser
- Make a donation to the 100 Neediest Cases fund
Give the gift of hope to a neighbor in need and get involved today.
3. Start a fundraiser on Facebook or Instagram.
The fundraising feature for Facebook and Instagram makes it easy for you to share causes that are most meaningful to you with your friends and family while joining together to make an even bigger impact.
As our United Way campaign starts to wrap up, now is the time to help 1 in 3 people in the St. Louis region. Every gift makes a difference, and we can accomplish so much more when we come together.
To set up a Facebook fundraiser for United Way, see instructions here. For a 100 Neediest Cases fundraiser, see instructions here.
4. Provide food support to our region.
Food is a part of many holiday traditions, but many local families struggle to keep food on the table at all. In the past year, there were over 4,500 requests for help with food through United Way 2-1-1, our 24/7 resource navigation center. And in Missouri and Illinois alone, food insecurity impacts nearly 40% of households.
You can help families have a warm meal on their table by packaging to-go meals with St. Patrick Center, setting up for The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Distribution breakfast, and assisting the Youth & Family Center to collect food and package boxes for their clients, and so much more.
Sign up for a food-focused opportunity today.
Take action now:
- Discover how you can help a family in need have a brighter holiday season through 100 Neediest Cases.
- Explore more holiday volunteer opportunities with our Volunteer Center.
- Share this story with family and friends.
