Last year United Way of Southern Cameron County along with our partners brought in $1.4 million of Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) to Cameron County residents.  This year more than ever working families here in Cameron County need our help with tax preparation assistance!   

*You can make a difference in the economic well-being of our area by helping money earned in Cameron County stay in Cameron County!

*You can make a difference in the life of a family that is struggling financially, by helping prepare an income tax return for free!

If you would like to volunteer with the tax project, please contact Keren Arista at keren.arista@unitedwayrgv or 548-6880 for a Volunteer Application.   In addition to tax preparers, we can also use volunteers as greeters and translators at the VITA sites.  I look forward to hearing from you!

 Here’s where you can have your income taxes e-filed for free by IRS-certified volunteers:

Faculty and staff at Brownsville Academic Center with snack packs.

Brownsville Independent School District students from very low-income families were sent home for the Christmas holidays with bags of nutritious food to ensure they don’t suffer from hunger while they’re out of school. United Way gathered food from individuals and companies throughout Brownsville to support families whose children normally receive two meals a day at school. Thanks to everyone who supported this brand new holiday project.

No child should go hungry during school holidays

This year more and more families have needed help feeding their children. This problem grows during school holidays, when kids aren’t receiving two free meals per day at school. United Way of Southern Cameron County has teamed up with the Brownsville Independent School District to create the Snack Pack Holiday Project. Our goal is to provide 360 children who have been identified by their school counselors with a bag of nutritious snacks for the holiday break. Each Snack Pack should contain:

1 jar of Peanut Butter

1 box of Graham Crackers

Package of Pudding Cups (minimum of 4)

Fruit Cups (minimum of 10)

Package of Granola Bars

Package of Cereal Bars

Shelf stable milk (minimum of 10 pack-small)

Cereal (package of individually boxed)

Tuna Kits with crackers (minimum of 2)

Chicken Salad kits (minimum of 2)

100% Juice boxes, V-8 Fusion or V-8 juice (minimum 10 juices)

Pop Tarts

Cheese and Cracker Kits

Box of Vanilla Wafers or bag of Animal Crackers

Individually packaged nuts or trail mix

The snack packs will be picked up from your office on December 9th. Can you help? Please call Wendy at 548-6880 or email her at wendy.hanson@unitedwayrgv.org to let her know how you or your company would like to participate. 

Click on the “Investor Club Application” link above to get started.

There is a place for both short-term emergency relief (Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc.) and longer term rebuilding efforts. If you’d like to invest in the long-term rebuilding efforts through the United Way Worldwide Disaster Relief Fund click here:

https://volunteer.united-e-way.org/uwwwdisaster/donate/

Have you ever prepared your own income tax return?

United Way of Southern Cameron County is looking for volunteers for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) project.  Volunteers are trained and certified by the IRS as tax preparers and donate 2 to 3 hours a week to work at a local VITA site during the tax season preparing income tax returns for low to moderate income families.
Last year United Way of Southern Cameron County along with our partners brought in $1.6 million dollars of Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) to Cameron County residents.  This year the federal government has expanded the income limits for the EITC and created new provisions through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) such as the Make Work Pay Tax Credit. All this means that there are more working families here in Cameron County that need our help with tax preparation assistance!

You can make a difference in the economic well-being of our area by helping money earned in Cameron County stay in Cameron County.
You can make a difference in the life of a family that is struggling financially, by helping prepare an income tax return for free.

If you would like to volunteer, please e-mail taxproject@unitedwayrgv.org with the message “Sign me up for the tax project!” or call United Way of Southern Cameron County at (956) 548-6880.  Volunteer…. LIVE UNITED.



During its first meeting in September, the group identified the lack of licensed counselors as one of the key barriers to expanding treatment opportunities in Brownsville. Substance abuse treatment differs from peer support or 12 step programs in that a licensed counselor is required for the provision of treatment. Participant outcomes are greatly enhanced by substance abuse treatment.

Members of the task force include two high school principals, three school counselors, two substance abuse treatment center directors, UTB-TSC professors, a judge, and members of the faith community.  Watch this space for exciting news about the work of this group.