On May 7th, 2025, the Shawano Area United Way in partnership with the Shawano County Literacy Council held the first Connections for Change: Volunteerism and Networking Event at the Elizabeth Street Business Complex in Shawano! This event had 19 nonprofit organizations and programs represented by 32 amazing representatives and volunteers gathered in one place to share about ways the Shawano community to get involved with them and give back to the people around them. It ran from 10:30 to 1:00 and many of the organizations who were present are also now listed on our Volunteers Page on our website at https://www.shawanocountyunitedway.org/volunteer-opportunities.
Thanks to a Thrivent Action Grant, we were able to provide lunch from Charlie’s County Market to our vendors and community members who attended! There were lots of amazing conversations taking place between the organizations and people who stopped by which resulted in a couple of new volunteer connections for SAM25 and Junior Achievement of Northeast Wisconsin as well as a wonderful donation for new car seats to the Shawano Area Early Childhood Partnership’s Giving Closet! The more our communities work together and live united, the more we all can thrive! Thank you to everyone who attended and a huge thank you to Elyzabeth Hoffman from the Shawano County Literacy Council who helped plan this event with our Executive Director at United Way, Uriah Williams.