About Us

At Greater Ottawa County United Way, our mission is . . .

To improve the quality of life for all Ottawa County residents by identifying pressing community challenges and focusing the community's collective power and resources to address those needs.

United Way has been making a difference in Ottawa County for nearly a century. Known in the 1920s as United Fund or Community Chest, annual fund drives to address community needs were a fixture of life in many communities in Ottawa County.

In the 1960s Grand Haven and Holland joined Grand Rapids and Detroit as the first communities in Michigan to form a United Way. In 2000, four United Ways—Tri Cities Area (Grand Haven, Spring Lake and Ferrysburg), Northeast Ottawa, Holland, and Zeeland—united to form Greater Ottawa County United Way.