Six-figure holiday gift from anonymous donor benefits local United Ways and needy families

What do you do if someone drops $65,000 in your lap to give away before Christmas to as many people in need as possible in the Sacramento region?

If you are the new leader of the United Way Capital Region, the answer is simple: Go where the needy are.

Dr. Dawnte’ Early hadn’t even been in her job as president and chief executive officer more than a month when word came an anonymous donor wanted to give individual gifts to people down on their luck.

“We don’t know who the anonymous donor was, but we were asked to give out this money to people in need before Christmas,” Early said. “It is great to be able to have this impact on so many.”

Peter Manzo, CEO of United Ways of California, said the money was part of a larger single donation totaling $450,000 that went to the state organization and was then redistributed to 15 United Way chapters.

Besides United Way Capital Region, other local chapters that benefited from the gift included Yuba-Sutter, Central Valley and Inland Empire.

”It was a generous gift. They really wanted money to go directly to households,” Manzo said.

Dr. Early was on hand at the Yolo Children’s Alliance’s West Sacramento toy distribution event for needy families on Dec. 19 giving out $100 bills in envelopes to 409 families.

The other $100 bills were given to Yolo County families participating in the Alliance’s Healthy Families Program, set up to assist pregnant or parent caregivers and to help victims of domestic violence.

On Dec. 20, Dr. Early showed up at the Sacramento Central Labor Council’s “Operation Christmas Basket,” an event designed to help struggling working families. There, she handed out $5,000 in hundred-dollar bills to families in attendance.

“It was real big for us to share these donations with our labor partners,” she said. “These are people who work as caretakers, bus drivers, janitors and the like. Some are working two or three jobs just to meet expenses.”

Early said it was especially gratifying to present the cash to one recipient in particular.

“There was one woman who had just sold her TV and (blood) platelets just to buy gas. It was a really big deal,” she said.

This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 1:09 PM.