Across our community, organizations and community members often have extra supplies—and at the same time, individuals and families are going without.
An agency may have extra cleaning supplies or paper products after a large donation. A school might collect donations that don’t fit the age group of the students it serves. A business may rotate inventory and have essential products that are slightly imperfect but completely usable. A new parent may open a closet and realize they have more clothes than they could ever wear after a baby shower.
Meanwhile, another neighbor may need exactly those items—today, yet without connection, those two realities rarely meet.
The gap between those two realities isn’t about generosity. It’s about coordination.
For many households in our community who are living paycheck to paycheck, access to everyday essentials can make a meaningful difference.
Closing the Gap Between Extra and Essential
That’s where the Oshkosh Area United Way (OAUW) Community Vault comes in.
The Community Vault helps close the gap between what’s available and what’s needed—quickly and thoughtfully. It connects businesses and community donors with trusted partner agencies, schools, and organizations. Those partners then distribute items directly to the individuals and families they serve, making sure resources are paired with the right support and services.
As stewards of the Community Vault, OAUW listens to partners, identifies patterns in need, and coordinates distribution so resources move efficiently through our community. When one organization has extra and another identifies a need, we help bridge that gap.
It’s practical. It’s local. And it’s designed to keep working.
The Community Vault doesn’t stand alone. It supports and strengthens other efforts already happening across our community.
When supplies are collected through the Oshkosh Back 2 School Fair, when the Help for the Homeless Hygiene Drive mobilizes hundreds of donors, or when the Hygiene Task Force identifies everyday gaps, the Community Vault helps keep those resources moving. After the event ends or the drive wraps up, items don’t sit on shelves—they continue flowing through a shared system to partner agencies who can put them to use right away.
That’s how generosity lasts longer than a single moment.
What Collaboration Looks Like
Collaboration shows up in many ways across our community.
Sometimes it’s local agencies like Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services, Winnebago Area Literacy Council, Father Carr’s Place 2B, Oshkosh Kids Foundation, and Vida sharing extra blankets, baby products, gently used books, and hygiene items so they can continue circulating to individuals and families who need them.
Sometimes it’s companies like Kimberly-Clark, Cummins Inc., Women’s Inspired Network, WI, and Hydrite Chemical Co. stepping up with donations of diapers, deodorant, and body wash.
It’s local dentists and orthodontists—like Vivid Orthodontics and Synergy Dental—responding to outreach with dental hygiene supplies that support health and confidence.
It’s companies, churches, service clubs, and community groups hosting collection drives—like Hoffmaster’s school supply drive for the Oshkosh Back 2 School Fair, Fortifi Bank’s diaper and baby wipe drive, or Miravida Living residents’ book drive—and reaching out ahead of time so the items collected reflect what partner agencies need most. That simple step helps every drive make a stronger impact.
And it’s neighbors, too:
- A community member dropping off extra hygiene items or socks they picked up on sale.
- A business like Fleet Farm, Silver Star Brands, and Bee Bella contributing products that can’t be sold but are still perfectly usable.
- A family choosing to pass along duplicate baby shower gifts so another household can benefit.
- An OASD student like Brody, who turned his holiday light display—Brody’s Christmas Lights for Charity—into a waterproof glove collection to help Oshkosh area students stay warm.
On their own, these items don’t solve everything. But united, they remove one barrier at a time.
From Extra Inventory to Everyday Stability
The Community Vault isn’t just about collecting donations. It’s about coordination.
When a partner agency meets with an individual or family and identifies a need, they don’t have to start from scratch. They don’t have to divert limited program dollars to purchase basic supplies. They don’t have to send someone across town to search for help.
Instead, they can say, “Yes—we have that.”
That simple answer changes the conversation.
It means a parent leaves with diapers and wipes in hand. It means a child has a toothbrush for school the next morning. It means hygiene items, blankets, and other household needs are available without unnecessary delay.
Through this coordinated approach, we:
- Speed up and expand access to essential items where they’re needed most
- Stretch nonprofit budgets further
- Make better use of supplies already in our community
- Cut down on waste
By strengthening access to everyday essentials, we are advancing Health & Wellness and supporting Enabling Resources—key pillars of our Community Impact Strategy. Reliable access to basic needs helps remove barriers so individuals and families can focus on work, school, stability, and long-term progress.
Why This Matters
For individuals and families navigating a tough moment, this system supports dignity. It reduces stress when it matters most. It allows agencies to respond quickly and respectfully.
For donors and partners, this is stewardship in action.
Your support helps build the connective system that turns generosity—at every level—into coordinated impact. It allows surplus inventory, thoughtful donations, and everyday acts of kindness to move through a structured, responsive network.
This isn’t about volume. It’s about flow.
When resources move efficiently and thoughtfully through our community, we strengthen the conditions that allow community members to reach their full potential.
Across Oshkosh and the surrounding area, there will always be moments when one person or organization has more than they need—and another has less than enough. When we work together, we close that gap.
Extra supplies become shared solutions.
And together, we build a community where support moves as quickly as need.
Inspired to Help?
If you have extra supplies to share or are interested in hosting a collection drive, we’d love to connect. Donations can be dropped off at Oshkosh Area United Way, 16 Washington Ave.
Just give us a quick call at (920) 235-8560 or email oauw@oshkoshunitedway.org so we can make sure a staff member is available to assist you.
Emily from the HOME Base Community Impact Team picks up essential supplies from the Oshkosh Area United Way Community Vault to support the clients they serve.