Feb. 8, 2021

It wasn’t easy, but the Sioux Empire United Way still beat its fundraising goal for the year.

The 2021 campaign raised more than $10 million thanks to 700 local businesses and 22,000 individuals.

“To have a successful campaign in a year like we’ve just had is just one more example of how our Sioux Empire community always steps up and supports one another,” Joel Sylvester, 2021 volunteer campaign chair, said in a statement. “This was no small effort; it required our leaders and volunteers to get creative and stay motivated. It was truly a year when every dollar made a difference.”

In-person rallies, chili feeds and jeans days gave way to online scavenger hunts, virtual dance parties and online pledge forms in the evolution of the campaign efforts in the year of COVID-19, the organization said.

Campaign volunteers developed safe options that would work for employee campaigns based on their current work environment.

The goal was $10 million, and the campaign came in about $44,000 ahead of that.

The funds raised by Sioux Empire United Way will be used this year by 42 local organizations to provide services to children, vulnerable adults and people in crisis. Affordable and quality child care, meals for older adults and transitional housing for homeless individuals and families are a few examples of the work of Sioux Empire United Way agencies.