For Immediate Release: November 19, 2020
Omaha World-Herald and United Way Partner to Help Community Members in Need Through
Goodfellows Program
The Omaha World-Herald and United Way of the Midlands (UWM) are pleased to share a new partnership to administer the Goodfellows program. The Omaha World-Herald established the Goodfellows program in the 1890s to help those in our community who had fallen on hard times, including people between jobs, the elderly, the ill, those who have experienced abuse and those facing a personal crisis with nowhere else to turn.
UWM is honored to have been selected as a partner by the Omaha World-Herald. The partnership will allow each organization to do what they do best — Omaha World-Herald will continue to share the rich stories and history of the charity, and UWM will raise program dollars and invest them back into the community. UWM will manage Goodfellows donations separately and invest them according to Goodfellows’ previous guidelines.
“Goodfellows has a long, rich history of helping our fellow neighbors in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area,” said Julie Bechtel, President and Publisher at Omaha World-Herald. “By partnering with United Way, we’re expanding our reach and providing assistance to even more people here in our community.”
“Due to COVID-19, we’ve seen needs increase dramatically across the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro,” said Shawna Forsberg, President and CEO of UWM. “Since the start of the pandemic, as many as 23% of Nebraskans have missed a housing payment or weren’t confident they would make next month’s payment. Nonprofits are providing three times the amount of food over the previous year, and nearly 10,000 people have reached out to our 211 Helpline seeking utility assistance. We’re proud to partner with Goodfellows to help individuals and families stay in their homes, put food on the table and keep the lights and heat on during this difficult time.”
Goodfellows has invested more than $16 million into our community since its inception. Last year, the program assisted over 12,000 adults and children by granting emergency assistance to those in danger of having their utilities shut off or being evicted; providing more than 2,000 grocery vouchers for holiday meals and helping nearly 6,000 school-aged children obtain hats, coats and other clothing items.
For more information or to make a donation, please visit www.goodfellowsomaha.com.
About United Way of the Midlands
United Way of the Midlands (UWM) has served the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro for 97 years. Guided by best practices and community input, it approaches poverty in a specific way – a “united” way. With the support of volunteers, community partners and donors, UWM invests donor dollars efficiently and effectively in our local community. These dollars fund basic needs, education and financial stability programs at local nonprofits, creating a circle of support for people in need. Please visit unitedwaymidlands.org for more information.
About Omaha World-Herald
Founded in 1885 by Gilbert M. Hitchcock, the Omaha World-Herald provides news, commentary, information and advertising that encourages readers to become involved in the world around them. The award winning World-Herald is a statewide Nebraska newspaper, and delivers to more readers in southwest Iowa than any other Iowa newspaper. The digital version (Omaha.com) receives approximately 24 million page views by over 3.3 million users each month. Over 80% of adults in the World-Herald’s “home market” of Douglas and Sarpy Counties have seen the printed or digital version in a week’s time.