SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – United Way California Capital Region’s Women United action group is inviting community members to its 20th anniversary luncheon on March 25 from 11am-1pm at the Croatian American Cultural Center in Sacramento, where influential professional women from across the state will gather to raise awareness and funds to support local foster youth. 

The event, which takes place during Women’s History Month, will celebrate the power of women working together to prepare local foster youth for adulthood and will include stories of youth whose lives have been changed over the past 20 years. The event will include lunch, presentations by local foster youth who participated in a writing partnership with nonprofit 916 Ink called “Find Your Voice,” and information about how to get involved. Tickets and sponsorships will benefit United Way California Capital Region’s programs for foster youth. Ticket sales end on March 4: YourLocalUnitedWay.org/WU2022.

“This is a remarkable opportunity to celebrate what women in our community have done together for local foster youth over the past two decades,” said Dr. Dawnté Early, president and CEO, United Way California Capital Region. “As we move into a new decade of work, we face new challenges, but we know that this powerful group of women will continue to find new ways to meet the most pressing needs of foster youth in our community, so they are prepared for success in adulthood.”

United Way’s Women United, founded as United Way’s Women in Philanthropy in 2002 with 35 members, has grown to 250 members and is now part of a global United Way network of more than 75,000 women taking action and impacting change. Local members have raised $2 million for United Way’s foster youth programs, also offering hundreds of life skills workshops and holding special events to showcase career opportunities and bring foster care professionals together to address current needs in the California capital region. Since 2011, the group has helped nearly 1,500 foster youth open bank accounts called Individual Development Accounts, a type of matched savings account, so they can leave the foster care system with money they have earned. Learn more about Women United: YourLocalUnitedWay.org/Women-United.

For nearly 100 years, United Way California Capital Region has brought local people together to make community change happen. With a mission to build stronger, healthier and more compassionate communities, the local United Way starts at square one: helping every family succeed so their community can too. Serving Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties, the local United Way is working to meet its 20-year commitment to significantly reduce poverty in the region by helping kids excel in school, investing in families, creating meaningful partnerships and organizing to lift impacted families. For more information or to make a donation: YourLocalUnitedWay.org.