King Township holds Fall Harvest Lunch in support of United Way

King Township employees also donated to United Way in a variety ways including payroll deduction.

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 11, 2019
Aaron Wang

King Township held its Fall Harvest Lunch event on Oct. 2 at the municipal centre in support of the United Way.

Coun. Avia Eek donated fresh produce, which was sold to raise money for the non-profit organization. King Township employees also donated to the United Way in a variety of ways, including payroll deduction.

“(Working with United Way) means a lot to King. King is an extremely fortunate place, and an incredible place to live. We are blessed in King, we have an incredible community here. I took this on when I became mayor, to foster support of United Way, and I believe it’s a great way for us to give back,” said King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini.

As of 2016, 7.5 per cent of the township’s 25,000 residents were living on low incomes, while children from infancy to age 17 are more affected, at a rate of 9.5 per cent.

United Way is a non-profit organization that fights local poverty by building connections and creating opportunities to improve the social and economic futures of local residents.

The Fall Harvest Lunch is an annual event hosted by King Township, a 30-year partner of the non-profit group. The lunch marks the start of several events throughout the year that aid the work of United Way.

"You can tell a lot about a country by the way that it helps the most disadvantaged people in the population, and at United Way, that’s exactly what they are doing,” said Jason Ballantyne, King's spokesperson.