Donate

Donation Opportunities

Township facilitates several ways you can give where 100% of all donations go to meet your neighbors direct, material needs. Angel Donor fund, LGBTQ+ fund, Solidarity Gardens (all tax deductible)

We are so grateful to the residents who have offered given nearly half a million dollars in funds and thousands of coats and toiletry items since we January 2019. Thank you!

Use the links below or mail a check to Cunningham Township 205 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801 with the name of the fund in the memo. Questions? Please email danielle@ctso.org.

We accept coats, warm winter gear, packaged food, and new toiletries in our bin at the front of our office – thank you!

Sorry, do not have space to accept clothing or furniture at this time — please consider donating to our friends at Empty Tomb, Salt and Light, or Habitat for Humanity Restore.

Charitable contributions to governmental units are tax-deductible under section 170(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code if made for a public purpose. Read more.

All donors will be acknowledged with thank you cards. Donors may be acknowledged publicly — Please let us know if you wish your donation to be anonymous. Every month the Cunningham Township Board reviews all income and expenses and a report is available upon request: danielle@ctso.org.

Donate to the Angel Donor Fund

100% of all donated funds go directly to secure food, clothing, housing, power, transportation or other tangible needs on behalf of residents. Gifts are tax deductible. Angel donor funds are primarily used to fund:

  1. Food Assistance
    • Sharing Table Food Delivery
      In partnership with United Way and Wesley Food Pantry, we deliver food pantry items, fresh produce from Solidarity Gardens, baby supplies, and toiletries for our low income or disabled Urbana neighbors who are unable to travel to food pantries. Angel donor funds primarily pay for toiletries and baby supplies. Those seeking support can call our office at 217-384-4144.

      • “Your delivery service has been such a blessing to me and my granddaughter. My granddaughter loves the oatmeal, she eats it every day for breakfast. The toilet paper too has been a tremendous help. We appreciate it so much.”
    • Hunger Relief Station
      Township provides snacks, microwavable meals, and drinks for visitors and program participants who come to our office.

      • A family fleeing domestic violence came to our office with children who had not eaten since the day before. While we worked to get them into the domestic violence shelter, we provided a healthy lunch with Angel Donor funds.
  • Clothing & Toiletry Support

    • Enoch Miller Sr. Winter Coat Drive
      Every winter we operate a coat and warm winter gear drive in honor of a Mr. Miller Sr. who always kept his porch full of coats for any neighbor who needed them.
    • CARES Team Street Outreach
      Our Cunningham Township Alternative Response and Emergency Services Team distributes coats, shoes, boots, socks, toiletries, period products, cold water and other necessities — along with connection to services — to residents sleeping outside throughout Champaign County.
    • A man sleeping on the streets came to his appointment with boots that were split open. Since his feet were oversized, we could not locate boots at any of the free or resale places in town. We ordered replacement boots online with Angel Donor funds. 
  • Housewarming for Homeless Residents
    We provide furniture and housewares for homeless residents who we are helping to move into housing, often after months or years of homelessness. We offer store credit at Salt and Light and Habitat for Humanity ReStore which helps these great organizations while helping our program participants find the furniture they need! We can also help participants with housing accessibility needs such as ramps, walkers, safety bars, etc.
  • Utility Assistance
    We turn water and power back on for any Township resident experiencing a shut off or imminent shut off if they lack other options. We also help homeless residents pay off old bills if they are a barrier to housing. This may involve a partial payment with a payment plan.

    • A homeless family was ready to move into housing, but an old utility bill kept them from moving in. Using Angel donor funds, we paid a portion of the bill and negotiated a payment plan with Ameren for the rest.

  • Transportation Support
    We provide bus tokens, bus passes, and support with reunification with family or friends for residents experiencing homelessness within our township.

    • We helped a young homeless mother reunite with her mother by helping her make arrangements to return to her home, purchasing a bus ticket with Angel donor funds. 
  • Safe Housing Support
    We provide support to move program participants into housing or help them stay in housing – such as application fees, birth certificate fees, old eviction sealing, credit repair. During the winter or severe weather, we use Angel Donor funds to help create “pop up” overflow shelters, as needed, to ensure residents have a safe place to be.

Donate online to the Angel Donor Fund or mail a check to Cunningham Township 205 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801 with the “Angel Donor” in the memo. Questions? Please email info@ctso.org.


Donate to the Carden Temple LGBTQ+ Impact Fund

LGBTQ+ residents are twice as likely to experience homelessness and face barriers to accessing resources such as emergency shelter as the general population.

In 2022, Jerry Carden and Tim Temple, local champions for LGBTQ+ rights, seeded an LGTBQ+ Impact Fund at Cunningham Township. 100% of these funds are used to support the emergency needs of local LGBTQ+ residents working with the township. This fund supplements our Angel Donor fund which provides assistance to the general population.

Funds are primarily used to pay for up to two weeks of housing support for low-income LGBTQ+ identified residents in Champaign County who lack other options and agree to follow program rules (including no unregistered guests). Referrals for housing come through partner organizations who are working with LGBTQ+ identified residents. Funds are also used for emergency food, bus passes, and gender affirming clothing (including wigs, hair products).

Donate online to the Carden Temple LGBTQ+ Fund or mail a check to Cunningham Township 205 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801 with the “LGBTQ+ fund” in the memo. Questions? Please email info@ctso.org.

 

Donate to Solidarity Gardens

Solidarity Gardens is a collaborative that works to develop a resilient, community-based food system by promoting gardening in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. We coordinate land access, education, supplies, volunteers, and events in support of gardening and food access. You can get involved by volunteering in one of our Affiliate gardens or sharing produce from your own garden.

Over the winter, we will be preparing our budget to determine what we can afford to do in our gardens next season. We rely on the generosity of community, and your donation will go to providing tools and materials that our leaders need to repair, maintain, and expand the gardens – $10 supports a garden purchasing a new hose nozzle or hand trowel, $35 supports a garden receiving a cubic yard of compost to amend the soil, and $100 supports multiple gardens with maintaining beds or a garden adding a new raised bed – https://www.solidarity-gardens-cu.org/funds

And consider donating in other ways! Every season, we need to restock well-used supplies such as gardening gloves, hand trowels, twine, tomato cages, pruners, hoses, and more. We can take donations directly at the Cunningham Township Supervisor’s Office (205 W Green St, Urbana 61801). Please email solidarity-gardens@ctso.org with any questions about what we can accept and where/how to donate.

Questions? Contact Cunningham Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth.