For years, United Way Northwest Indiana has been helping those in the Region thrive with various resources and educational programs. These opportunities, however, wouldn’t be possible without support from the community, including Horizon Bank, who generously donated $3,368.38 to the nonprofit on Friday, February 16.
Horizon has been a proud supporter of United Way Northwest Indiana for over 25 years. With a mission of helping others reach their best potential in life, Horizon has always been eager to step up and help out those at United Way Northwest Indiana in any way they can.
“We always try to give back to the community,” said Horizon Market President of Porter County Mark Ritzi. “United Way does a really good job to disseminate those needs throughout the community – it gives an overview of need, and then distributes the money to those who are in need the most.”
The financial institution as a whole has been proud to work with United Way Northwest Indiana, and many of its employees also enjoy volunteering their time and resources as well to volunteer whenever possible. Branch Manager David “Dave” Coyne has been a strong advocate for raising funds for United Way Northwest Indiana for quite some time now and enjoys looking forward to doing even more for the organization each year.
“I've been here for three years. Each of those three years I've been the chairperson for the United Way drive and we try to bump up the number every year,” Coyne said. “They do a lot for the community in various ways and they touch on multiple other organizations, which is one thing about them that I like.”
Today’s donation will go towards the various resources United Way Northwest Indiana provides. This includes its Level Up program, a program designed to help participants become more economically stable as they work towards their personal and professional goals. While enrolled, people are each paired up with a case manager to help them through any challenges they may face along the way and have access to a plethora of specialized resources, such as financial counseling, childcare support, and educational courses.
“We’ll be using the donation for our community resources and Level Up program,” said United Way Northwest Indiana Chief Marketing and Development Officer Rich Shields. “All the money that we have goes back into the community, so we're very proud of that and we're very thankful to Horizon for providing us this donation check today.”
Donations from generous organizations such as Horizon allow United Way Northwest Indiana to continue to provide these resources throughout the Region. The community support means the world to Shields, and he appreciates just how enthusiastic everybody is to help United Way Northwest Indiana out to allow the organization to continue making Northwest Indiana a better place for years to come.
“We're ecstatic,” Shields said. “We love it. We appreciate Horizon and other partners around the area that constantly support United Way Northwest Indiana and really want to help us be a steward of our mission. I want to extend a big thanks to Horizon, Dave, Mark, and his staff for choosing United Way Northwest Indiana and really believing in our mission and their continued support.”
Ritzi expresses the same sentiment as Shields and is looking forward to continuing to support United Way Northwest Indiana for many years to come. No matter how big or small the contribution, Ritzi and the Horizon team have confidence United Way Northwest Indiana is going to make great waves throughout Northwest Indiana and beyond, and will be sure to be by their side every step of the way.
“We appreciate what they do – they always do a good job of what they do,” Ritzi said. “We're on board with what they're doing as far as their contributions to our community, even in a small piece here in Valpo, but throughout the region, throughout the state, and throughout the country.”
For more information on Horizon Bank, visit its website at horizonbank.com, and for more information on how United Way Northwest Indiana supports its communities every day, visit its website at unitedwaynwi.org.
