Back to Main :: Community Impact   Results You Can See United Way is improving lives by mobilizing communities to create lasting changes in community conditions. The following story explains what we mean by lasting changes in community conditions. Once upon a time... A neighbor is walking by the river early one morning. The neighbor looks out into the water and sees a baby floating down the river. Horrified, the neighbor races into the water, grabs the baby, and brings the baby to shore. The baby is fine. Relieved, the neighbor looks back into the water, but sees another baby floating down the river! The neighbor again dives into the water and rescues this baby as well. Once more the neighbor looks into the water...and sees dozens of babies floating down the river. The neighbor calls out an alarm, and the entire community comes running to the river to rescue as many babies as they can before the water carries them away. This is a community that is mobilized. Every neighbor is at the river, trying to save the babies from the water. This is a community that is improving lives. Many of the babies are saved. But the babies keep coming...because no one is going upstream to put a stop to the ogre that is throwing the babies into the water in the first place! United Way and its partners need to gather a contingent of neighbors to go upstream and stop the ogre. Otherwise we will be pulling babies out of the water forever! Pulling babies out of the water is essential. How can we live with ourselves if we don't try? But it is by going upstream – to redirect the ogre and put its energies to better use – that we create lasting change in the conditions that are causing this nightmare to begin with! Where the money goes Click here to view [12kb .pdf] Back to Top You make the most of your United Way gift when you choose the Community Care Fund because... You are connected to an entire family of essential local agencies; Informed volunteers ensure that your hard-earned money is used effectively; and Our member agencies are able to use these unrestricted funds to strengthen their programs when needed most. How are the Community Care Funds Distributed? Local trained volunteers review agencies' operations and program effectiveness; This group makes recommendations to United Way's Board of Directors and the funds are distributed to agencies according to the Board's final decision; All individuals contributing 50% or more of their gift to the Community Care Fund are invited to participate in the bi-annual agency review process conducted in February. Back to Top   Copyright © 00-Present. United Way of the Tanana Valley Community Impact | Member Agencies | Volunteer! | Donate | About      All Rights Reserved.   PO Box 74396 Fairbanks, Alaska 99707 Phone: 907-452-7211   The United Way Hand Symbol is a Registered Trademark of United Way of America. Design by WebWeavers Technology Group, LLC Photo of Fairbanks, AK. by & sponsored in part by © Patrick J. Endres/AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com