Overcoming the extraordinary challenges of today – and the months ahead – will require an extraordinary effort by the people of Door County. Because we’re asking you to have faith in us, the United Way of Door County and the Door County Community Foundation have committed to being fully transparent on how every dollar contributed to the Door County Emergency Response Fund is used.
Here is a summary of the first distributions made from the Fund:
Boys and Girls Club of Door County – $14,449 For adults and children whose family has experienced a sudden loss of income due to the health crisis, the simplest way to help is to provide free meals so they don’t have to spend money on groceries. The Club is already producing more than 600 dinners/day.
Door County Meals Cooperative – $11,000 The Cooperative is using this money to provide supplies (paper bags, food containers, etc.) to school districts for their breakfast and lunch programs as well as coordinate the enormous volunteer distribution effort to get the Boys and Girls Club meals to people in need.
Washington Island Community Health Program – $3,550 The Island’s isolation from the human service programs on the greater peninsula has required exceptional efforts by WICHP. Their emergency meal program is now helping feed the Island’s housebound senior citizens and they are also coordinating the Meals on Wheels volunteers.
HELP of Door County – $3,000 Domestic violence issues are only being amplified by the stress of people being out of work and the directive that everyone stay isolated at home. HELP of Door County is working hard to respond to those challenges and work to keep victims safe.
Door County Medical Center Foundation – $3,000 The Ministry Fund is a flexible pool of money that DCMC uses to help patients and their families with costs such as lodging, shelter, rent, durable medical equipment, and other expenses when a person has nowhere else to turn.
Door County Fire Chief’s Relief Fund – $1,000 This is a flexible pool of money that the Chiefs can use to cover small expenses related to their extraordinary volunteer efforts.
All 501(c)(3) public charities, faith-based organizations, and other public entities serving the people of Door County are eligible to apply. Given the magnitude of the crisis, we anticipate making multiple distributions to many of the same organizations as circumstances change.
Information about contributions received and distributions made will be updated regularly at www.RespondDoorCounty.org.
While we will be completely open as to how we’re using your contributions, we do have a request of you.
We ask for your patience and understanding as we work through the challenges we’ll face in the months ahead. Almost inevitably, the size of the problem will be larger than the moneys we have available to address it. Difficult choices will need to be made as to which organization or coalition is a higher priority at any given time.
Further, as significant as the problem is today, it will grow considerably as the crisis begins to impact our season and people remain out of work for longer periods of time. That means we’ll need to spread the distribution of the money you’ve contributed over many months. Regardless, you have our commitment to distribute every dollar you’ve donated to the Emergency Response Fund to help people who live right here in Door County.
Finally, since we’re being completely honest, we’ll almost certainly be asking you to give again. We’re facing some rough waters ahead, and we won’t make it if we try to sail alone. We may have to stay apart for a while, but we’ll get through this if we come together as a community.
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