Letter to the Community

Click here to view our 2009-2010 Annual Report (pdf)

*Click here to view our 2008-2009 Annual Report (archived)

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to share with you this annual report that provides an overview of the accomplishments of  United Way of Greater Union County in 2009. As you will read in this report, in the past year United Way has demonstrated our unique ability to bring people and resources together to solve problems in a variety of ways – from developing innovative programs, to raising awareness of emerging issues, to mobilizing hundreds of hands-on volunteers. This snapshot makes evident how we are working to advance the common good in Union County by uniting resources to help not only those in need now, but to put systems in place that will benefit our local community reaching far into the future.

By nearly every measure, the state of United Way in 2009 was strong. Despite the negative state of the economy we secured $6.8 million to help respond to increased community needs. We continue to turn to our donors and volunteers who value United Way’s unique role, and who understand how important their support is to our future success. Our most important measure of success is how well we have served our constituents. In our continued commitment to the communities we serve, we have strengthened our partnerships and increased services in the communities of Linden, Roselle, Rahway and Westfield. We are proud to announce our merger with United Way of Summit, Berkley Heights and New Providence to combine our expertise and resources to become more efficient and increase our ability to effect positive change in the Greater Union County Area. Other notable accomplishments to celebrate include the kick-off of our partnership with the Union County Department of Human Services and Union County College, for our Reconnections program, our partnership with Holy Redeemer Home Care for our Nurse Family Partnership program, and our joint efforts with NJ4Haiti to assist with the relief and rebuilding efforts, which raised over $79,000 locally and secured additional funding from United Way Worldwide for $100,000.

We did more than we thought we could, and we showed that we can rise above any challenge when we come together with commitment. It is an important lesson to remember as we continue to bring people and organizations together to address the root causes of our community’s most pressing needs.  United Way will continue to flourish because of dedicated volunteers, a committed board and through generous support from our community. To each and every one of you, this serves as our letter of thanks for another successful year. Together, we are doing life-changing work.

Thank you for your support.

James W. Horne Jr.