Providence Manor Coordinator of Recreation, Leisure and Exercise programs and Volunteer Services Danielle Gowdy knew she wanted to work with seniors since she was a high school senior volunteering in the complex care unit of her hometown’s hospital. And now, not only is Danielle helping seniors in her very busy role at the Manor but she’s also giving back to the community as Providence Care’s corporate lead for this year’s United Way campaign.
After getting familiar with the United Way by attending events for the Manor last year, Danielle was approached by their team in June. She says, “I was very excited to be a part of such a great contribution and something that stays within Kingston. It‘s not something that goes somewhere that you don’t know where the money is allocated. It’s something that helps to better our community and gives the services to people in our own backyard so that’s why I wanted to get involved.”
Danielle feels what makes the United Way so beneficial is that it is not the sole provider for the services they support and wants to emphasize the places in Kingston we may not realize are being helped by the United Way. “The great thing that the United Way does is make sure that the organization that they are giving the money to is still stable and can go on if the United Way can’t fund the services aren’t lost,” says Danielle. Adding, “There are many places in Kingston that people probably don’t even realize are supported by United Way helps with. So I want to highlight those areas that people might be using every day but don’t realize that the United Way is the reason they are so successful.” A few particular organziations Danielle feels are a good examples are Kingston Youth Shelter and Outreach St. Georges Church.
Three of Danielle’s favourite United Way organizarions are Southern Frontenac Community Services, Frontenac Kingston Council on Aging and the Food Sharing Project.
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