FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – There are many ways to participate in the University of Arkansas United Way campaign, but if you take the opportunity to make a donation, either online, through the Venmo app, or with your donation card, your donaation goes to the United Way of Northwest Arkansas, which funds 38 programs run by 31 agencies in this region.

All of these programs aim to help the estimated 27,000 children living in poverty in Northwest Arkansas – providing a pathway out of poverty for these children and their families.

Several of the programs directly help people at the University of Arkansas.

All of which is why the campaign theme is “United We Win.”

If you choose to donate $100 or more you can designate the donatation to one specific program.

Each program addresses a specific concern under the broad categories “Stability Today” and “Prosperity Tomorrow”.

In the first category are four programs that provide legal advocacy for children, six concerned with promoting child well-being, and three that address the problems of youth homelessness.

In the second category, which looks to the children’s future, there are seven programs that work with parents, helping to make them effective teachers for their children. Another eight programs seek to provide quality out of school programs for children, either as pre-school, after-school or summer educational experiences. Four programs offer mentoring for children and six work to develop self-sufficiency for the children and their families – the ultimate movement away from poverty.

A detailed list of these programs is available at the United Way of NWA website.

There are three programs funded by the United Way of NWA that directly help people at the U of A – and a fourth that is run by the university’s School of Social Work.

The Donald W. Reynolds Boys and Girls Club runs a program called “Future U! Dream. Plan. Succeed.” The goal of the program is to prepare low income teens for success after high school, with a combination of personal and professional development opportunities, financial literacy, tutoring, ACT preparation courses or certification programs to prepare students for a career.

The Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter and the Peace at Home Family Shelter both offer programs that provide safety and support for children who are victims or witnesses of domestic violence, bringing stability into their lives.

And the U of A School of Social Work is using its United Way funding to develop child savings accounts for Marshallese children, as a way to teach self-sufficiency and cultivate a pathway to prosperity. This is a community-based collaboration with the Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese and the Economic Opportunity Agency of Northwest Arkansas.

The United Way has one of the best records of efficiency of any charitable organization in the country. If you make a donation, 99 percent of that money will stay in Northwest Arkansas.

No one donation can solve the problems of children living in poverty.

But “United We Win.”