From virtually the moment the COVID-19 pandemic hit Saskatchewan's shores a year ago, the United Way and its non-profit partner organizations in the southwest sprang into action with a host of initiatives both local and national.

From a local perspective, Stacey Schwartz, Donor Relations Specialist with the United Way, sat down with Swift Current's city council to provide an update on the busy year that was for the organization.

With the announcement of school and business closures, and the dilemma of "panic buying" causing shortages in PPE and cleaning supplies early in the pandemic, the prices rose to levels that according to Shwartz most charitable organizations were not prepared or equipped to take on.

One of the first large-scale "pandemic response" projects, therefore, came thanks to the support of a Regina Liquidation Supercentre; money that was used to supply PPE including face-shields, masks, sanitizer, wipes and other equipment to a number of non-profits. In the southwest, the CMHA, the Family Resource Centre and The Willows/Riverview Estates specifically benefitting.

A much more involved project came next, in the local "Local Love in a Global Crisis" initiative; meant as a means to centralize and distribute local donations in a more effective way by using a volunteer local community response committee.

To date, that initiative has deployed just over $22,500 between March 2020 and February 2021, including assisting the Centre/SCCYI and the CMHA with their meal programs, the Salvation Army and Riverview Estates with additional PPE supplies, and Southwest Homes with additional support staff during the lockdown.

On the national level, the United Way was able to work with the federal government to assist with their Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF), which saw $237,419 dollars invested into Swift Current and area non-profits such as the Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation, Great Plains College, Family Resource Centre, Southwest Homes and a handful of others.

A similar federal initiative, the New Horizons for Seniors Program, was designed to help improve the well-being of seniors and foster their social inclusion.

$15,000 of those dollars were invested into Swift Current and area, between the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Southwest Homes, Shaunavon Food Bank and Spinal Cord Injury of Saskatchewan.

And finally, A United Way Centraide initiative in partnership with Labour Councils across Canada raising awareness of "Period Poverty" and the struggles of some to afford menstrual products such as pads, tampons or liners.

"Tampon Tuesday" as it was called, saw Shoppers Drug Mart team up with the United Way and a total of 253 boxes of menstrual supplies to four agencies in the southwest; Southwest Homes, Family Resource Centre, Dorie's House and the Salvation Army.