| Newsletter Highlights |
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Take a quick survey about Food and Wine Tasting Events, see how our community is saving money on prescriptions, and learn about how to donate your car for a cause.
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Save the Date for TWO great events!
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The 2nd Annual Flavor
of SLO returns to Mitchell Park on May 23, 2010! Check out photos from
last year's event at FlavorOfSLO.com. Event sponsorships are also available. Contact Charlene Rosales for more information.
All of our supporters are invited to attend our Annual Recognition Event. This year's event will be held on Thursday, June 17 at the Dallidet Adobe.
Last year's Flavor of SLO.
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 Food and Wine Event Survey
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Like food, wine and beer tasting events? Please take this brief survey to help us improve future fundraising events. A team of Cal Poly marketing students have developed the survey as part of their senior project, which also includes planning Flavor of SLO. Thank you in advance for your participation!
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Youth Grants Awarded
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The United Way Youth Board has awarded grants for 2010. The recipients include:
- Flamson Middle School AVID class. The "No Place For Hate" project is a week long event promoting peace and acceptance among the students.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County. The school based programs matches high school aged "Bigs" to elementary school "Littles."
- SLO County YMCA Healthy Kids Club. Two sixth graders developed the idea for the Traveling Library for YMCA after school programs, and encourages older students to mentor younger students to improve reading skills and enjoyment of books.
The recipients were on hand to accept their awards at the March 17 Youth Board Meeting.
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| Mission Cars
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United Way staff Charlene Rosales and Rachel Cementina with Mark Fogarty and Christian Henderson from Mission Cars.
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Ever wanted to donate your car to a local charity? Mission Cars is here to do just that- assist people in donating their vehicles. They determine the value of the vehicle, do all the work of cleaning,
advertising, showing, and selling it. After it sells, the organization of your choice
will receive a check for half the net proceeds.
Recently, we referred a donor to Mission Cars, and once the car sold, they stopped by to bring us a check. Thank you to Mark Fogarty, Christian Henderson and everyone at Mission Cars!
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Are you a Loyal Contributor?
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Have you been giving to United
Way for 10 years or more? If so, we want to know about it! Even if you gave to another United Way before giving locally, we would like to thank you for your commitment. Your gift makes a difference and improves lives- no matter what level you have given. If you have been a supporter of ANY
United Way for 10 years or more, please contact Horace Morana at (805) 541-1234
or hmorana@unitedway.org, and let him
know that you are a Loyal Contributor.
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FamilyWize Card Reaches Milestone
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In
partnership with close to 1,000 United Ways, FamilyWize passed their
goal of saving $100 million on the cost of medicine for the uninsured
and underinsured. In the last 18 months, San Luis Obispo County alone has saved over
$285,000 using the
FamilyWize card. Together, we have helped more than one million people get
the medicine they need.
Congratulations
again to all our wonderful United Way partners! For the past five years, the FamilyWize Partnership has been providing free prescription drug discount cards nationwide. On average, card users save about 38% on their prescriptions. Visit www.unitedwayslo.org to print an individual card, or contact Rachel Cementina if your agency would like to distribute a supply of cards. Plastic card holders are also available to contain and display cards.
Did you know... FamilyWize cards can be used for pet prescriptions, too?
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Emergency Food and Shelter Funds Available
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San Luis Obispo County has been awarded federal funds under the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program.
Under
the terms of the grant from the National Board, local agencies chosen to
receive funds must: 1) be private voluntary nonprofits or units of government,
2) be eligible to receive federal funds, 3) have an accounting system, 4)
practice nondiscrimination, 5) have demonstrated the capability to deliver
emergency food and/or shelter programs, 6) if they are a private voluntary
organization, they must have a voluntary board. Qualifying agencies are urged
to apply.
Public
or private voluntary agencies interested in applying for Emergency Food and
Shelter Program funds may visit www.unitedwayslo.org
for an application. (The
application is available under the "Our Work" tab.) The application is due at 2:00 PM on Friday, March 19, 2010.
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Volunteering
Up Amid Tough Economic Times
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a significant increase in the
number of volunteers and the volunteer rate in 2009. According to the BLS
report, 1.5 million more Americans volunteered between September 2008 and
September 2009 than did in the previous year. Approximately 63.4 million
people, or 26.8 percent of the population, volunteered through or for an
organization in 2009 compared to 61.8 million in 2008. Find out how you can
volunteer through our Opportunity Exchange, linked below.
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FREE Tax Return Preparation
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Need assistance with your tax return? Qualified households can visit one of the many Volunteer Income Tax
Assistance (VITA) sites throughout SLO County! Staffed with trained IRS
certified volunteer tax preparers, each site offers free tax preparation to
community members who meet the following requirements: Households with total earnings under $49,000, and households that do not receive rental income or individuals that do not receive self-employment
income.
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| Opportunity Exchange |
Are you looking for volunteer opportunities? Would you like a job in the nonprofit profession? Have an item to donate? Take a moment to read through the monthly Opportunity Exchange, a list of items needed, volunteer and employment opportunities, upcoming events, items available, and advocacy opportunities. If you would like more information, please contact the agency directly using the information provided in each listing. Click here to view the most recent Opportunity Exchange. | |
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Contact Us
United
Way of SLO County P.O.
Box 14309 San
Luis Obispo, CA 93406 Office
(805) 541-1234 Fax
(805) 543-5317 info@ unitedwayslo.org www.unitedwayslo.org
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Grant Writing Workshop
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Atascadero Main Street and Grant Writing USA
will present a two-day grants workshop in Atascadero, May 12-13, 2010.
Beginning and experienced grant
writers from city, county and state agencies as well as nonprofits, K-12,
colleges and universities are encouraged to attend. More information, and a special discount code, can be found in the Opportunity Exchange.
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