#DalUnited for the community

Dalhousie’s United Way campaign has been going for 90 years strong, and this year’s effort is no exception.

As of press time, the campaign total sits at more than $150,000 — which means there’s less than $10,000 left to raise to reach Dal’s fundraising goal.

Your donations can help Dal reach that target: although the campaign “blitz period” has wrapped, the payroll pledge donation deadline for faculty/staff is December 19, while the deadline for donations for income tax purposes is December 31.

“It’s important to Dalhousie employees to have opportunities to help others and make our communities better places, and this United Way campaign allows us all to work together and achieve something remarkable,” says Peter Dyhkhuis, co-chair of Dal’s 2016 United Way Campaign and director/curator of the Dalhousie Art Gallery.

All payroll pledges will appear on January 2017’s pay stubs. If you’re a first-time donor, you’ll qualify for an extra federal tax credit of 25 per cent with the first-time donor’s super credit.

Important dates

The United Way accepts designations, so donors can be specific about where they would like to direct their funds. This includes the United Way Community Fund and funded agencies, as well as all Canadian registered charities. To designate your contribution, please select this option on the online pledge form, or complete the back of your paper pledge form.

Learn more: Dalhousie United Way Campaign website

United Way Halifax, United Way Colchester County, and United Way Saint John raise most of their funds through workplace donations and individual and corporate contributions.

Donations to Dal’s United Way campaign will go directly to the United Way’s work in the community. Donations made by faculty and staff on the Truro campus will benefit United Way Colchester County and those made at Dal Medicine New Brunswick will stay with United Way Saint John, Kings and Charlotte. Similarly, donations from faculty and staff on Dalhousie’s Halifax campuses will be directed to United Way Halifax.

“We’ve been amazed by the effort and collaboration across all Dal campuses,” says Erin Stewart-Reid, co-chair of Dal’s 2016 United Way Campaign and senior manager, special projects in the President’s Office. “It’s inspiring to work with members of the Dal community that you don’t interact with regularly and come together to ‘do good’ in the communities where we live and work.

Did you know?

(from United Way Halifax, United Way Colchester, and United Way Saint John, Kings and Charlotte)

• 1 in 5 people in Halifax don't have enough food to eat.
• 1,508 people stayed at a Halifax shelter in 2015.
• 1 in 8 residents of Halifax live in poverty.
• 38 per cent of children in Saint John live in poverty.
• Saint John has the highest incidence of police-reported domestic violence in Canada.
• 1 in 5 Canadians will personally experience a mental illness during their lifetime.
• 1 in 5 high school students in Nova Scotia have seriously considered suicide, 1 in 10 have attempted it.