Success Stories

The 2018 Back to School Supply Drive a Huge Success: Thank you to All of Those That Donated.

When children receive a new backpack and brightly colored folders to start a school year, their faces light up like it’s Christmas morning! For the Plymouth Community United Way, the experience of seeing children in our community benefit from a collaborative community sponsored back to school supply drive is unforgettable.

Today, many kindergartners enter school at risk for failure. One factor in this is many children go to school each day without basic supplies like pencils, paper, calculators, crayons, and backpacks. When there are not enough supplies teachers tend to buy extra supplies out of their own pockets or the money is taken from already strapped school budgets.

Plymouth Community United Way and its partners engaged the community to deliver a much-needed community service to children in Plymouth, Canton and Western Wayne.

The Senior Citizen’s Club of Plymouth, Tom Adams Merrill Lynch, St. Thomas A’Becket Catholic Church in Canton, Lumileds LLC., Probility Physical Therapy, Central City Dance & Fitness, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, Raymond James, Flint Group, Comcast, Radiant Fine Jewelry, Raymond James Family Legacy Wealth Partners and other community members and partners came together to provide school supplies for students in Plymouth, Canton, and Western Wayne.

PCUW guided the Back to School Supply Drive partners in collecting school supplies at their business sites. The number of supplies collected this year reached nearly 10,000 items and over 100 backpacks and lunch boxes were also collected. With the help of corporate partners, community members and partners, PCUW is helping to meet the needs of students who need supplies.

Plymouth, Canton and Western Wayne students are not alone. Because of poverty and other family challenges, many children across our country go to school lacking basic supplies needed to perform well. By working together with the community, United Way impacts the lives of children and families across the country. Your United Way contribution, in time or money, is an investment in children, and together we can achieve lasting results. It takes everyone in the community working together to create a brighter future.

2017 Make a Difference Day

Plymouth Community United Way and our partner agencies work tirelessly all year long to provide programs of support to the residents of Plymouth, Canton, and Western Wayne. Our partner agencies provide programs of support for the young and the elderly, and everyone in between. One of the ways PCUW supports the elderly and those with disabilities in our community is through our annual Make a Difference Day. The purpose of Make a Difference Day is to assist the elderly and homeowners with disabilities to prepare their yards for the Michigan winter weather.

In 2017, over 300 volunteers gathered at Plymouth First United Methodist Church for a light breakfast before gathering up their rakes, lawn bags and work gloves to rake leaves and provide outdoor clean-up for senior citizens and homeowners with disabilities in Plymouth and Canton. Volunteers were made up of community members looking to help out their fellow neighbors, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops from local elementary schools, employees from corporations and businesses like Adient and JTEKT NA Corporation, as well as teams and clubs from Plymouth, Canton and Salem High Schools. “The Salem Hockey Team has raked our yard for many years in the past. My father enjoys seeing them each year,” said Yvonne Begian, a homeowner who has benefited from this service. It is because of generous volunteers like these that PCUW was able to “Make a Difference” at over 65 homes in 2017.