From left are Brenda, Blake and Jeter Tarana, all of Tim Hortons Jamestown, and Amy Rohler, executive director of the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County.

Jamestown Tim Hortons and the Tarana family reached out to the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County recently to discuss ways they could help when Tim Hortons announced the launch of the United Donut.

The donut, which included vanilla frosting, with red white and blue chocolate sprinkles, became a hit in the community, generating $4,052 in donut sales in three days. All of the money was donated to the Chautauqua County Crisis Response Fund – COVID 19.

“We just wanted to help, and we had a lot of fun along the way,” said Blake Tarana, owner of Tim Hortons Jamestown. “When we can get creative and help our local community, I’m happy.”

Pictures of local families eating the United donut flooded social media during the weekend it was available to purchase.

As of May 29, the Crisis Response Fund has generated $956,202 of the $1 Million goal the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County set back in March when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Amy Rohler, Executive Director of United Way of Southern Chautauqua County, said, “the purpose of the fund is to support our local non-profits to assist our most vulnerable community members. More than $250,000 in grants were made in our first phase of funding, which focused on immediate relief to those impacted by COVID and basic needs like food, childcare and internet access.”

The second phase of funding will focus on operational support for non-profits who have experienced severe financial distress due to COVID.

The grant application and additional information about the Chautauqua County Crisis Response Fund are available at www.uwayscc.org.