Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- A Highland couple anonymously donated up to $25,000 to the local Red Cross.
- The donation is a matching system, doubling contributions made by the public through Dec. 31.
- Funds will support local disaster relief and other local programs..
SALT LAKE CITY — It was a memorable Christmas for the local chapter of the American Red Cross and, potentially, for anyone who will need its help in the future.
A couple from Highland, who wanted to work anonymously, has promised up to $25,000 to the local chapter — but not in a traditional direct-to-agency donation.
The couple established a donation match, promising to double each donation made by Dec. 31 to the local American Red Cross, up to $25,000.
According to local Red Cross leadership, the matching donations will allow the agency to amplify its impact on the community by receiving more funds to apply to its work, even if the dollars come in a unique way.
"In Utah, I haven't seen anything like this. This is something that is pretty rare, I think. Businesses and large employers may set up a matching system, but I haven't seen individuals or a couple," said Benjamin Donner, executive director at the local chapter of the American Red Cross. "Our focus now is on getting the word out."
Between now and Dec. 31, residents in central and southern Utah can visit a designated site to donate financially to the American Red Cross.
To donate to the local American Red Cross:
Visit rdcrss.org/4iPm5hq to donate through Dec. 31.
Donations will be matched, with dollars staying locally.
Donors can note specifically where they would like their dollars to go, such as to hurricane recovery in the South or to local efforts to assist families removed from a home by a house fire. Your dollars will go where you see fit.
But the matching dollars will stay here, locally.
The American Red Cross, nationally and locally, has long noted that most of its responses are to house fires in neighborhoods all over the country. In 2024, the local Red Cross in Utah assisted in response to 150 house fires. The chapter provides emotional support and assistance with financial and recovery resources and more to the more than 500 residents of those 150 homes.
Donations matched will assist in supporting those efforts.
The Red Cross is also still in need of blood donations, and residents are welcome to register to give. Every blood donation, which mostly stays local, assists area hospitals with patient care in times of emergency and are continually needed.
But given the structure of the grant — and the push this time of year to give to area social service agencies — financial donations are the focus.
"We are not government-funded as a whole," Donner said. "There may be state and local governments who fund some things, sure. But as a whole organization, we are not. So at this time, we are asking for financial gifts."
The couple that has provided the $25,000-matching donation are people who give back to the community and are especially committed to the American Red Cross, according to Donner, who met with the couple to set up the donation.
They opted to set up a matching system to allow others to participate in giving to the Red Cross and making it as important to them as they do.
The condition to operate the grant was simple: The couple did not want their names attached. They did not wish to be seen as promoting themselves. All attention should go to the American Red Cross.
"Individuals like this inspire me," Donner said. "They make me want to work a little harder. Think of all the emergencies the Red Cross responds to. ... What would we do without the American Red Cross?"
