It’s United Way Week in Lawton-Fort Sill, Auction Kicks Off Wednesday, October 6

This week we have been focusing on United Way partner agencies, and what they contribute the Southwest Oklahoma's Way of Life, and how your donations to United Way are imperative to their survival and causes.

On Monday, we visited with Jacobi Crowley from the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.  Their mission is Kids and how they can serve kids and the community with after-school activities and sports programs.  They are focusing on older youth as well, and how to keep them engaged.

Today, we visited with Sara Garner from Family Promise.  Family Promise is a shelter that caters to families that have fallen on hard times and have nowhere to turn.  Family Promise keeps the family together and uses resources to help with transportation and child care as the family tries to get back on their feet.  They also offer resources to make sure they are secure once they leave the shelter and re-establish their own homes.

The United Way Campaign is currently underway in Lawton Fort Sill.  70% of United Way donations come in the form of payroll deductions, but they can also come in the way of events like the one that had been planned for earlier this year, The Blue Tie Gala that had to be canceled due to COVID concerns.

United Way of Southwest Oklahoma will host an Online Auction in lieu of their annual Blue Tie Gala this year. The auction will launch at 12:01 am on Wednesday, October 6th, and wrap up at midnight on Wednesday, October 13th. All proceeds will go to support United Way of Southwest Oklahoma's annual fundraising campaign. UWSWOK supports 19 local non-profits who are united in their mission to advance the common good and improve the standard of living for citizens in Southwest Oklahoma.

“Because of covid, we had to shift our plans this year. Our live and silent auctions have traditionally been great revenue drivers during our annual Gala, so we asked ourselves what could we do to try and recoup some of the revenue we so greatly rely on. It became very clear that having an online auction was the path forward. In fact, having the auction in an online format allows us to not only reach a broader audience, but also provides us with a much larger platform in which to highlight the donors’ generosity, which is something I never take for granted. To keep things fun, we may even have a few surprises planned during the week.” said Lauren Ellis, UWSWOK President & CEO.

The online auction may be previewed at www.charityauction.bid/UWSWOK To learn more about UWSWOK and its mission, please go www.uwswok.org or contact Roxanne at 580.355.0218