Gift of Warmth

What is the Gift of Warmth program?
Each year during the holiday season, area companies and organizations send numerous tokens of appreciation to their clients and vendors. The Gift of Warmth program encourages these socially conscious business leaders to use all or even a portion of their gift-giving budget to send the Gift of Warmth instead. You don't have to be a business owner or have clients to participate. Anyone can make a gift and receive cards to send to your circle of family and friends.

How does the program work?
For a donation of $500 (or $5 per card) to the United Way’s Emergency Heating Fund, you will receive 100 Gift of Warmth cards to insert in your corporate holiday cards to clients, vendors and customers. Additional cards are available for an additional donation. A special version is also available suitable for personal gift-giving. Please contact the United Way for more information.

How is the United Way’s Emergency Heating Fund used?
To ensure your generous donation is carefully and appropriately utilized, the United Way fund is closely monitored by trained social workers and volunteers and is used for extreme emergencies to provide emergency fuel/utility assistance or emergency furnace repair. Last year, nearly 130 families received the Gift of Warmth to overcome potentially life-threatening heating emergencies during the coldest winter months.

For example, an elderly couple with only limited Social Security income ran out of heating oil during one of the coldest stretches of winter weather. The funds raised through the Gift of Warmth program made the difference between being safe and warm in their home or having to choose between essentials such as food and medicine.

Similarly, a hard-working single parent family with four children was nearly left homeless last December when their furnace broke and began leaking kerosene onto the floor. The parent’s wages were not enough to cover repair costs, and space heaters were their only source of heat. Again, this family received the Gift of Warmth and celebrated the holiday knowing they would remain together in their own home and safe from harm.

The Gift of Warmth steps in when crises like these–and many more–arise and people have no where else to turn.