United Way Pembina Valley had a successful fundraising campaign in 2025, and it meant they were able to give back $110,733 to the Morden and Winkler communities last week.
The agency handed out a total of $103,233 to 23 local non-profit organizations for a variety of different programs and services. The United Way will also be distributing $7,500 in scholarships and bursaries to graduates of Garden Valley Collegiate, Northlands Parkway Collegiate and Morden Collegiate in June.
President Levi Taylor said they are grateful to everyone who so generously donated to the campaign.
“Thanks to you, these 23 charities are being supported in their important work,” he said. “We’re very blessed to be a part of this community and to receive the generosity that community members provide us, and we turn that around and are able to grant out more than $110,000. We’re extremely thrilled.”
Taylor noted the totals represent an increase in both the amount donated back and the number of organizations being supported, so he feels the relatively new regional United Way has really taken hold in the area.
“We’ve transitioned from the individual Winkler and Morden United Ways to the Pembina Valley United Way,” he said. “It’s taken root in the community, and it’s shown strength and it’s grown.
“Every year we see an increase in donations, and it’s just exceptional,” he said, adding they recognize that the level of need in the community and among organizations has increased.
“When things are tight, and costs have gone up … there’s just not so much excess. But we are blessed in this community, and we do continue to see that,” he said.
Anita Wiebe of Winkler’s Central Station Community Centre, which received a $9,100 grant, was very thankful for the support of their poverty reduction initiative as well as for simply having the opportunity to gather with representatives of almost two dozen organizations who are making a difference in Winkler and Morden.
“It’s so amazing to always see the community come together and to be able to see the different agencies that serve the community, to all be able to connect with each other and celebrate each other in a way.
“[The United Way] sees so many of the needs in our community, and they have the ability to engage the communities to help respond to those, so it’s such an amazing sense of community on days like today.”
Wiebe noted it is vital support with them being in year two of their poverty reduction and well-being plan.
“This year is really about how do we engage the community well? We want to be part of the driving force in this, but we know that we can’t do it alone,” she said. “We have been beyond blessed by the generosity of our community.”
Mariyam Tsygankova, executive director of Morden’s Many Hands Resource Centre, which received $8,900 was equally grateful for the support for their food bank.
“It means a lot for us,” she said. “Our food bank numbers keep growing, and we are currently serving 130 families each week.”
She noted they very much rely on this kind of community funding as they receive no government support.
“Grants like this are very helpful in order for us to purchase things like milk or eggs,” she said, noting they get some provisions through the local food rescue initiative, but they otherwise have to contend with the rising costs of supplying food for people in need themselves.
“This is something very meaningful and very important for us,” she said. “Our work is helping people to stay stable before they are in crisis.”
