Like most families, people want to get out and enjoy the wonderful summer activities and events our community has to offer. For some families this is difficult because it can put a dent in the family budget. Family budgets can be a difficult thing as they are driven by some significant costs such as childcare, housing cost (mortgage or rent), utility costs rising, inflation for food and other everyday costs. Many times, people fall in the lower end of the pay-scale making minimum wages.
When all these costs are considered, discretionary funds diminish and become harder to find if you want to treat your family to activities and events. Events like the Lincoln County Fair, the Rodeo, the Food Truck-a-Palooza may be out of range. Thankfully, there are low-cost, no-cost options such as biking, T B Scott Library programs (and reading in general) walking trails, parks and playgrounds, hoops and tennis.
United Way would remind families to look into some of the programs offered by our partner agencies during the summer months. Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, Family Resource Center and Girl Scouts are a few. There is a kid’s summer lunch program offered FREE for kids and teens. The lunch is served on weekdays at Christ United Methodist Church. This program is beneficial to latch-key children (defined as: a child at home without adult supervision for some part of the day until a parent returns home, especially after school and during the summer months). By choice, sometimes there are programs offered through churches for children, such as bible camps or other options. By supporting United Way, you allow parents to get children involved in many of these opportunities,
A really big deal, Leslie Blasing will be returning to Merrill, WI for her third and FINAL show, “Concert for A Cause”. Blasing hails from South Padre Island TX. The event is on Tuesday, August 13 at the VFW Post 1638, 601 Johnson Street, Merrill, WI. All profits from the 2024 Concert will go to the “Disaster Relief Fund” to help families impacted by fires, floods, or tornados. Concert tickets are now available online at Eventbrite and at local ticket outlets before the end of June. Outlets are VFW Post 1638, Merrill Area Chamber of Commerce, County Market in Merrill, Westside Market in both Merrill and Tomahawk. Tickets are $25 in advance, and $30 at the door and includes an appetizer buffet, entertainment, and dancing. There will be a cash bar, raffle prizes, and more. Check out the Merrill Area United Way website – merrillareaunitedway.org and Leslie Blasing’s website - www.lesliepresents.com or https://www.facebook.com>leslie.blasing.
In the upcoming months United Way will be working with our partner agencies to receive their required mid-year reports. This gives us a preliminary overview of the agencies’ success. This effort, coupled with the annual agency visits conducted by our United Way Board of Directors members allows a better understanding of the activity level and challenges the agencies may be facing. Also in the summer agenda is the annual audit, conducted by Gassner Company. We shall be working on developing the fall campaign which kicks off in September right after Labor Day.
Let’s keep our community healthy by Living United, helping others, volunteering, and giving financial support. Donors can mail checks to Merrill Area United Way, P O Box 813, Merrill, WI 5445 or go to the United Way website for online donations – www.merillareaunitedway.org . Dollars stay local! For more information about Merrill Area United Way visit: merrillareaunitedway.org or email Delores.Olsen@merrillareaunitedway.org .