United Way of Dane County

United Way of Dane County will host a “United Carnival” to kick off its 2024 community campaign at Breese Stevens Field on August 21.

The event will invite community members out to Breese Stevens Field, 917 E. Mifflin St., to engage in family fun and hear more about its campaign and mark its official launch. The campaign will work to address rising needs from data collected by United Way and raise funds for nonprofits to bolster programs to meet common problems cited.

Among the problems found by United Way, rising costs due to inflation — which include costs in food, rent and childcare — from around 44,000 Dane County callers to its “211” call service line.

“This year we’ve got about an 80% increase in rent and housing assistance calls, also 80% increase in food calls, and then a lot of utilities assistance,” said Renee Moe, CEO of United Way. “Just last month, we started seeing more requests for gas vouchers and transportation, so you can really see inflation and what’s going on in families’ pockets really showing up in people’s requests for help.”

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