National Volunteer Week is a great time to find a way to make your community better by volunteering.
Marifer Rivera, the community education manager for Comunidades Unidas, started volunteering with Comunidades Unidas in 2017 where her passion for community organization began.
Comunidades Unidas (CU) was founded in 1999.
The organization fights to build social and political power of people who identify as Latinx immigrants, including undocumented folks, living in Utah.
In 2021, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield invested in their Family Emergency Fund helping Utahns who needed financial support due to the pandemic COVID-19 and were ineligible for federal stimulus aid.
"Funding also supported farmers markets to better address the lack of culturally competent food in targeted Latinx and immigrant communities," Rivera said.
Miguel Rovira is the director of community and business relations at Regence.
"We partner with many nonprofits to help meet community needs," he said. "Regence now sponsors [Comunidades Unidas] food pantry, which directly impacts a negative social determinant of health."
Rivera says it takes dozens of volunteers to make their program successful.
To learn more or donate click here.
