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United Way and FamilyWize Partnership a Success     

Pictured left to right: Carol Sarafin, United Way St. Croix Valley Donor Services Associate and John Coughlin, United Way St. Croix Valley Executive Director

Thousands of prescriptions go unfilled simply because they are too expensive to fill. But free FamilyWize prescription discount cards, provided by United Way St. Croix Valley, address this problem. Last year, this partnership saved residents $18,390.28 by cutting the cost of medicines by an average of 35 percent.

United Way St. Croix Valley is part of a nationwide grassroots effort in conjunction with FamilyWize Community Service Partnership. The free cards are accepted at 95 percent of pharmacies nationwide, including all major chains. Using a card to save on prescriptions doesn't require enrollment or personal information, so they're ready to use the minute you receive one, according to Dan Barnes, co-chair of FamilyWize.

"This helps people who have no insurance the most, but it can also help people with insurance if it doesn't cover their medicine," said Barnes. "It's easy, like using a coupon. Just take it to your local pharmacist, and they'll know exactly what to do to automatically apply all the savings available to you."

An estimated 16 percent of Americans didn't fill at least one prescription in 2010, and another 13 percent reported taking expired drugs, skipping a dose (12 percent) or splitting pills without approval from their doctor or pharmacist (8 percent). The alarming statistics are from the 2010 Health Tracking Household Survey, which was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In most cases, cost was the reason cited.

FamilyWize was the first organization to offer prescription discount cards for free to everyone, locally and nationwide, struggling with the high cost of medicine. Since its founding in 2005, the organization has worked with almost 1,000 local United Ways across the country to help more than 3.4 million people save over $300 million on their prescriptions.

To get your FamilyWize discount card, call Carol Sarafin at 715-377-0203 ext. 101 or visit http://www.unitedwaystcroix.org/familywize.html to print a card you can use immediately as well as download a list of participating local pharmacies.

Staff Corner - Carol Sarafin  

United Way St. Croix Valley Donor Services Associate Carol Sarafin has been with the organization for nearly 10 years. Starting out as a volunteer, she joined the staff while completing her Administrative Assistant degree from Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in New Richmond. Previously, Sarafin taught preschool for 20 years in Hudson, Stillwater, New Richmond and Roberts.

Growing up in Houlton and graduating high school from Hudson, Sarafin is a true advocate for the community members of the St. Croix Valley. As Donor Services Associate, she works with donors on questions related to their gifts and designations. In addition, Sarafin takes calls from community members who are looking for assistance and provides them with information on nonprofits that could help them with their issue. And sometimes, she just listens. "I talked to one lady who was depressed and was going into counseling, and I think it just eased her mind to talk to someone and to know that she wasn't alone," Sarafin said.

"Carol is one of the most caring people I have ever met," said Web and Marketing Associate Kate Smith. "Every time someone calls for help, even if it's not something we can help with directly, she takes the time to listen and to figure out who would be a good resource. I know that each person means a lot to her."

"There are so many nice people in the valley, and we all want the same things for our community, good things," Sarafin said. "I'm just trying to do my part."

First National Bank of River Falls was one of United Way St. Croix Valley's top corporate contributors through the fall 2010 fundraising campaign. The bank's employees donated more than $3,500 in payroll deductions and nearly $1,500 in direct gifts. A corporate gift of $2,000 brought the grand total to more than $7,100.

First National Bank of River Falls is locally owned and operated and offers a variety of personal and business banking services. It now has three locations in River Falls, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus and Prescott.

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Board of Directors

Steven Snell, President  

Warren Schneider, Vice-Pres.

Christine Weigel, Secretary  

Patrick Powers, Treasurer

James Dahl

Dan Draxler

Jennifer Ewig

John Haley 

Theres Heimel

Cynthia Jahnke

Jody Keller

Jean Larson 

Sue Obermueller

Thomas O'Connell

Vicki Plaistow  

Richard Smith 

Kevin Urbik 

Vicki Ziglinski