United Way of Grey-Bruce is making an urgent appeal in the finals weeks of the year for support.
The biggest shortfall from United Way has been from the Backpack Program which was almost $40,000 when compared to the $20,000 shortfall in 2022.
While the community has been very supportive, the rising costs and increased demand has been difficult to manage.
Francesca Dobbyn, Executive Director for United Way says they’ve run into more increase demand besides just the backpack program.
“We had more people accessing our utility assistant program than last year which is a real challenge. When organizations come to United Way for funding we are seeing way more food programs, food banks asking for funding to help them address food needs across the community” said Dobbyn.
Cuts to 2024 programming and support are possible if the deficit is not addressed with 2023 fundraised dollars.