Thanks to donations made during last year’s BWH United Way campaign, staff raised nearly $198,000 in support of programs that help families in our region avoid homelessness, obtain housing, gain job skills and/or job placement, better prepare children for kindergarten and help students stay in school and graduate.

BWH partners with United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley through an annual hospital-wide fundraising campaign. United Way distributes the funding to local nonprofits to improve the conditions of communities that BWH serves, with a focus on increasing opportunities for children and youth and bettering the financial stability of individuals and families.

The 2017 campaign, which runs from Monday, Oct. 30, to Wednesday, Nov. 22, has adopted a Star Wars theme with the tagline encouraging donors to “be a force for change.”

Beginning Oct. 30, BWHers will receive direct, personalized emails with a link to their own giving pages. Online donations can be made through payroll deduction, credit card or check. Printed pledge cards will also be available.

Lisa Morrissey, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, associate chief nurse of Peri-Procedural Areas, Stan Ashley, MD, chief medical officer, and Allen Smith, MD, MS, president of the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization, are co-chairs of the campaign.

Donors will have the opportunity to win raffle prizes, including an autographed New England Patriots helmet, mountain bikes, a flat-screen TV, Boston Bruins tickets, one month of free on-site parking (main campus or 850 Boylston St.) and more.