United Way of Larimer County is here to help you manage a project that best suits you and helps the community.
We’ve put together a few resources below to get you started with your project. Please continue reading and review the Frequently Asked Questions dropdown for more information.
What is Service To Go?
Service To Go projects are ongoing, fun DIY projects that can be completed anywhere, anytime. They can be created at your business, school, faith-based group, or home, and they
provide meaningful resources for individuals, families, and children in need. United Way of Larimer County works with local nonprofits to identify ongoing needs in the community. Projects
range from “thinking of you” cards for homebound citizens, to first aid kits and non-perishable food packs for homeless individuals, to books and activity kits for
children staying at a local shelter. Your contribution makes a powerful impact!
Education is the foundation for a child’s future stability and success. Young children cannot afford to miss out on the fundamentals of education at a crucial age due to stress or
transitions at home. These projects are a way to help further children's basic learning abilities and improve individual cognition through interactive learning:
Basic needs are vital to individuals with chronic conditions and for individuals and families in crisis needing temporary support. When individuals are unable to meet their immediate needs,
it becomes more difficult to focus on long-term goals such as employment, sustainable housing, or education. These projects provide essential items and help ensure basic needs are
met:
Poverty creates a vicious cycle of economic uncertainty, and many people in our community are walking a financial tightrope. We must address the financial stability of individuals and
families in our community to break the cycle of poverty and broaden the financial tightrope into a sustainable path. These projects help provide a little something extra, so families can free
up funds for other important items:
United Way of Larimer County can support you with:
Providing project ideas
Helping you plan your on-site project
Providing consulting, guidance, and tips
Distributing your completed project to the nonprofit recipients
How do I decide on a project?
Consider the interests and skills of you or your group.
Are you passionate about helping others with basic needs? The health-related kits may be good options. Are you creative? Literacy Kits or Alphabet cards may be for you.
Consider your group size and the time you have to dedicate to the project.
A few of the projects take just a few minutes to assemble, where others take up to 2 hours per person. Check out the
Service to Go Time Breakdown here.
Several of the projects require materials that you may have on hand, such as markers, paper, and glue. Read through the list of projects and choose one that is lower cost or requires these
“on-hand” materials.
You may also consider the following options:
Ask others to bring materials from home.
Get creative and think about the quality and clean materials that are often thrown out at your workplace or school, that can be upcycled for project materials (such as boxes or bags).
Put on a donation drive the month before your project at your workplace, church, or school to gather supplies. Then a few days before your project, purchase the supplies you haven’t
collected.
How long will the project take?
Refer to the Service to Go Time Breakdown. Understand that these times are approximate, and your group may likely
move quicker than you planned. Be prepared for this situation.
How do I assemble or create the project?
Each project toolkit listed has its own set of materials needed and instructions. If you’re completing the project with a group, consider making one on your own first so you can show an
example to your group and share tips.
Be sure to also consider how you will transport the completed projects. Plan to have boxes or containers for the finished products and appropriate transportation to get them to United Way.
How many should I make?
Each project listed has been identified as an ongoing need in our community. That means our nonprofit partner recipients will gladly take any number, any time!
Please note, if a need has been met, we will take the project off our website.
Why should we do the reflection?
Reflection helps to answer the “what, so what, now what” questions of volunteering, allowing you to think critically and more deeply understand your role and the project’s
importance. Reflection also allows for dialogue around what was challenging about the project, what was unexpected, and other insights or lessons learned. Reflection can also bring about a
call to action, challenging you to apply what you learned to further benefit the community. Without reflection, volunteering can seem episodic or unintentional, and the importance of it can
easily be missed or forgotten. Reflection helps you to address important questions and helps you to share your experience with others.
I’m doing the project with a group. Should the reflection be done individually, or all together?
It is up to you! Some groups prefer to go through the reflection together as a conversation, and others are able to reflect on their experience better individually.
You may even choose to reflect together first as a group, and then have each person fill out their own reflection page.
However you choose to do it, we still like to capture the volunteer information. If you choose to reflect as a group, please provide the information at the top of the reflection page for the
group as a whole, and include the individual names and emails, and submit to United Way of Larimer County.
Where do I report my volunteer hours?
Each project toolkit has a reflection page attached. Please fill out the reflection page individually or with your group, and submit the page(s) with your project to United Way of Larimer
County or your group contact. United Way collects this information so we can recognize the hard work of each volunteer.
I need to fulfill court-ordered community service hours. Is this project an option?
Maybe. Please contact your probation office for their policy and process around Service-to-Go projects. United Way of Larimer County is not in a position to facilitate, oversee, or authorize
Service-to-Go projects for any court-ordered individual, though we will happily accept and distribute the completed projects.
Where do I drop off the project items once the project is complete?
To drop off a project you must make an appointment by emailing s2g@uwaylc.org. We are located at 525 West Oak Street, Suite 101, Fort Collins, CO 80521.
If you are part of a group and you are not the group lead, please give your completed project to your group contact, so he or she can drop off the group’s projects altogether.
Where do the project items get distributed after I drop it off?
United Way of Larimer County partners with over 200 nonprofit organizations in Larimer County. We assess the needs of our partners as we receive the projects, and we distribute the items
accordingly.
Why is this project impactful?
Service-to-Go projects provide meaningful basic needs and resources for individuals, families, and children in need in Larimer County.
While United Way and our partners work to move those in poverty into prosperity, these projects are much-needed gifts from the community, serving as a reminder of how much the community
cares. Each project toolkit explains the purpose and impact of the project depending on the population receiving the items.
