United Way Sarnia-Lambton program funding stays steady

Community program funding in Sarnia-Lambton via the United Way is staying steady in 2025, after a recent fundraising campaign.

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“(There’s) one very slight increase to one of our current programs,” said executive director Pamela Bodkin.

Everything else is unchanged from 2024, after a surprise $1.49 million was raised in the agency’s recent campaign.

That’s $3,000 more than the goal, or 100.2 per cent, officials said in a release, noting the campaign was expected to fall short until a community rally in its final weeks.

Now, aside from a $4,800 bump to a BGC (Boys & Girls Club) summer day camp program with a long wait list, every other program that received funding in 2024 is getting that same funding in 2025, Bodkin said.

No cuts, she said.

The total is 28 programs via 16 agencies, officials said.

They include Meals on Wheels via the Canadian Red Cross, hearing aid and other assistance programs via the Salvation Army, a Habitat for Humanity handyman program, and others.

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The United Way also funds a critical services grant for Family Support Services through the Children’s Aid Society, officials said.

That grant ends March 31.

“We are so lucky to have such a caring community,” Bodkin said in a statement, praising supporters for making differences in the lives of community members in need.

The amount raised almost covers demand, she said.

Two new applications this year were not funded, she said, and about $165,000 in requests were not approved.

In other years, more has been left unfunded, she said.

“I think people realized when they knew the campaign was – we were looking at just to get where we were last year – probably a lot of programs that would normally put an application in maybe did not,” Bodkin said.

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Investing in the programs the United Way does is great, but more could be done, said Gerry Whitcombe, who chairs the agency’s volunteer community investment committee that reviewed applications and made recommendations to the agency’s board.

“There’s so much need out there and there’s only so much that we can do,” he said. “I feel wonderful that we’re able to help the agencies and the people we’re able to help, I just wish we could do a whole lot more.”

Programs that received funding in 2024 directly affect 23,000 people, officials said.

Those programs also benefited collectively from 77,000 volunteer hours over the last year.

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“All of the programs that we fund, we ask them to tell us how many volunteer hours in a year are put into that program as well,” Bodkin said.

Up next, officials are awaiting results of a community needs assessment, including polling community, health-care and social service agencies, to find out where the United Way should focus its efforts in 2026, Bodkin said.

Assessments are conducted about every five years, she said.

“Then our board will be looking at goal setting in April,” she said.

The fundraising target is typically announced in summer, and the campaign officially kicks off in September.

But fundraising never really stops, Bodkin said. “There’s really no down time.”

Currently, the United Way focuses on programs focusing on poverty reduction, mental health, kids, seniors and people with disabilities, she said.

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