The United Way of Southwest Michigan says the new Southwest Michigan Cares Fund has raised more than $70,000 since being launched three weeks ago to support storm cleanup in Cass, St. Joseph, and Branch counties.
The United Way’s Zack East tells us more than 210 donors have chipped in since the fund was launched as Southwest Michigan once again shows its generosity and compassion.
“Southwest Michigan, the state of Michigan, and really even the nation has sort of stepped up and really responded here to help these three communities across these three different counties — Branch, Cass, and St. Joseph — that were deeply affected by this tornado,” East said.
The Southwest Michigan Cares Fund was activated on March 7, one day after a powerful supercell storm ripped through areas of Southwest Michigan, causing multiple tornadoes.
“Really, we weren’t sure what to expect because it’s been quite a while since United Way of Southwest Michigan has had to be involved in some level of disaster recovery for one of our communities. Really, the last time that happened is kind of the COVID era.”
East told us how the United Way has been using money raised for the fund.
“So far, what we’ve done is partner with our sister United Ways in Branch County and St. Joseph County. That’s where Union City and Three Rivers are, respectively, and they are getting disbursements from the fund.”
100% percent of donations designated to the fund go directly to recovery efforts. East says in addition to donations from the public, the fund has received some hefty corporate contributions from Corewell Health, Meijer, United Healthcare, and Priority Health. He expects the need will remain for some time.
“The spring storm weather that typically comes about this time of year, I think, is only going to make those cleanup and recovery efforts probably a little more challenging for people in those three counties. So I think the need for them is going to continue, certainly for months on end.”
Donations can be made at SouthwestMichiganCares.com.
