In January of 1936, a small committee met to discuss the possibility of starting an organization to support local charities.  Known then as the Community Chest, they did not run an official campaign until years later. Even during uncertain economic conditions, Schuylkill County residents generously gave to their community and the first campaign raised $72,000 to help support numerous local agencies that offered essential programs and services.

In the early 1970s, the Community Chest became the Schuylkill United Way and since then, has raised and returned more than $22,000,000 back to the community.  Currently, the Schuylkill United Way helps support 15 partner agencies that are located throughout Schuylkill County and solely provide programs and services to county residence at little or no charge.  Last year, 88,500 county residents were served by at least one of our partner agencies.  That number accounts for over half of the entire population of Schuylkill County.   

The Schuylkill United Way is independently run by a volunteer 30-member Board of Directors drawn directly from the community.  Board members and officers are comprised of businessmen and women who live and work in Schuylkill County and the immediate surrounding area.  This diversity allows the Schuylkill United Way to always be in touch with the needs of our community.

Members of the board, the committee, and volunteers are focused on meeting the needs by supporting and providing programs and services to members of our community who need help the most - whether it's emergency shelter, health care, family counseling, youth programming, drug prevention, or disaster relief.

View Our 75th Anniversary Video

The Sam Lesante Show(about Schuylkill United Way)

Areas of Impact:  

• Developing Children & Youth
• Strengthening Families
• Supporting Older Adults
• Assisting with Disaster and Emergency Relief
• Promoting Health, Healing, and Crisis Intervention  
• Caring for Individuals with Physical or Mental Challenges

Annual Campaign – All donations are raised from September through November with the generosity of corporate, employee and individual giving. Campaign helps donors increase their knowledge, understanding, and involvement with the Schuylkill United Way and its 15 partner agencies.

Pacesetters – Pacesetters “set the pace” for the Annual Campaign and finish their portion of the donation drive before Campaign Kick-Off officially begins. Members of the Pacesetters Club are individuals throughout Schuylkill County who contribute a minimum of $500 towards the Annual Campaign. Levels of giving range from Copper through Platinum depending on contribution amount. 

Special Events are also run for Schuylkill United Way to help raise money for the Annual Campaign.  Last year, Air Products raised over $20,000 in their annual golf tournament!

Stuff the Bus –Is a month long school supply drive held each July. In 2012, Stuff the Bus collected over 1400 backpacks, stuffed them with school supplies and delivered them to each of the 15 partner agencies. The backpacks were then distributed amongst children in need throughout Schuylkill County.

Check out more information on....Stuff the Bus

Day of Caring – Day of Caring was developed to help connect donors to a meaningful volunteer experience by giving them the opportunity to learn more about theagencies that they support. In April 2012, over 150 volunteers rolled up their sleeves and completed numerous community service projects for 9 of the 15 partner agencies.

 See more about Day of Caring!

Prescription Assistance –The FamilyWize Prescription Discount Card (www.familywize.org) is available to anyone who does not currently haveprescription coverage. The average savings in Schuylkill County are typically 40% off the cost of prescriptions.

FamilyWize Prescription Drug Discount Card

Stamp Out Hunger -On Saturday, May 12, 2012, Campbell Soup Company joined forces with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) to help Stamp Out Hunger across America. Now in its 20th year, the annual food drive has grown from a regional to a national effort that provides assistance to the millions of
Americans struggling to put food on the table. The Stamp Out Hunger food drive, held on the second Saturday in May, has become the nation’s largest single-day food drive benefitting Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. In 2011, generous Americans donated 70.2 million pounds of food, which marked the eighth consecutive year that at least 70 million pounds were collected by letter carriers. Supporting the drive again this year is the U.S. Postal Service, local United Way’s, including the Schuylkill United Way, the AFL-CIO, and Feeding America.

Grants:

• Disaster Relief—Shell Oil and Weinberg Foundation: This year, the Schuylkill United Way received funds from the Shell Oil Grant and Weinberg Foundation totaling over $30,000. That money went to help over 15 families recover from the flood in 2011 near Pine Grove and Klingerstown areas. Also with that money, the Schuylkill United Way helped in the rebuilding process of a local park for the residents in Pine Grove.
• Land O’ Lakes Grant: For the third consecutive year, United Way of Pennsylvania received a donation to fight hunger from Land O'Lakes Foundation. The funds were distributed through a number of local United Ways across the state, including Schuylkill United Way. Schuylkill United Way gave their portion of the grant to North Schuylkill School District and St. Clair School District to help fund their backpack of food program.
  

Emergency Food & Shelter Program (EFSP) – The Schuylkill United Way serves as the local administrator for the FEMA program which provides funds to supplement and extend current available resources for emergency needs including rent, food, and energy assistance. In recent years, the local Emergency Food and Shelter Board was awarded $18,000 in federal funds to distribute to five local organizations: Catholic Charities, Pottsville Salvation Army, Tamaqua Salvation Army, Schuylkill Women in Crisis, and Schuylkill Community Action.

The Schuylkill United Way participates in the following committees for the betterment of Schuylkill County:   Schuylkill County Complete Count Committee (U.S. Census Bureau), Capital Campaign Coordination Committee, State Employee Combined Appeal (SECA), United Way of Pennsylvania Board of Directors, Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO)

1. WEGMANS

2. AIR PRODUCTS & CHEMICALS, INC.

3. JE MORGAN FOUNDATION

4. PPL ELECTRIC UTILITIES

5. WAL-MART DC #7030

6. BOB WEAVER GM CHRYSLER

7. MRS. T'S PIEROGIES

8. JELD-WEN

9. REPUBLICAN HERALD

10. SAPA EXTRUSIONS