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WILKES-BARRE — Bill Jones, President/CEO of United Way of Wyoming Valley, Wednesday said the pain of the COVID-19 emergency is being felt in every community in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania, just as it is all across our nation and the world .
To address the needs of those affected by COVID-19, 14 regional United Ways from Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania are partnering with Eyewitness News WBRE/WYOU for a joint fundraising campaign — “United Way Cares” — in an effort to help individuals and families in need of services.
The local United Ways stretch from the Northeast Tier through Clinton County, with the on-air and online fundraiser having a capacity to reach hundreds of thousands of residents.
“Working together is part of the United Way DNA, and when all of our regional CEO’s connected, we recognized the need for an effort with broad reach that would help the most people,” Jones said. “With a shared commitment to community, Eyewitness News WBRE/WYOU decided it wanted to help.”
Organizations coming together for this unique COVID relief fundraiser include United Way of Bradford County, United Way of Susquehanna County, Clinton County United Way, United Way of Susquehanna Valley, Berwick Area United Way, Lycoming County United Way, United Way of Columbia and Montour Counties, United Way of Wyoming County, United Way of Greater Hazleton, United Way of Wyoming Valley, Schuylkill United Way, Pocono Mountains United Way, United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley (Carbon Co.).
Rather than a traditional telethon, Eyewitness News WBRE/WYOU will produce a series of Public Service Announcements which will run during prime viewing hours on both stations along with regular live and recorded segments during PA Live! and other news programming.
All will also be run online and shared on social media.
“While our fight to overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may be the story of a lifetime, it is also the story of our home, the community of Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania,” said Steve Daniloff, Vice President/General Manager of WBRE-TV/WYOU-TV. “It’s going to take all of us working together to get back on our feet, especially when it comes to those who are hardest hit by the crisis. Partnering with United Ways from the 17 counties which we serve is a natural way to make sure we help people from every community in our viewing area.”
The PSAs and news segments produced by Eyewitness News WBRE/WYOU featured on both stations and their website, PaHomepage.com, will drive viewers to a secure online giving portal, where donors can select their local United Way, click a link and support people in need in their own community. The link to donate is: https://www.unitedtoact.org/uwcares.
All support raised from the campaign will be used to address local needs created by the crisis and there will be no administrative fees assessed.
If donors prefer to write a check as opposed to donating by credit card, they can make it out to:
United Way of Wyoming Valley, 100 North Pennsylvania Avenue, 2nd Floor, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702. Please write: COVID-19 Response Fund in the memo line. The fundraiser began on April 20 and run for 4 weeks.
United Ways of Wyoming Valley and Eyewitness News WBRE/WYOU are grateful to the Times Leader for its support for the United Way Cares Fundraiser
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.