Read to Kids Program inspiring the love of reading   

February marked the re-launch of our Read to Kids program at a new school site, Mariposa Elementary School in Ontario!

On Saturday, February 12th, twenty-five volunteers spent the morning reading books about diversity to over fifty children in a lower-income neighborhood.  Each child read a book, was engaged in discussion, completed a related craft project and received a new book to take home to build their home library.

In addition, 40 parents participated in a workshop that discussed important topics such as parent-student communication, hot issues, the transitions from elementary school to middle school to high school, and allowed parents to voice concerns and questions in an open discussion.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped inspire the love of reading. Also, a special thank you to Starbucks, Fresh and Easy, and Henry's Market for donating coffee and breakfast food items for the children, parents, and volunteers of the program!

To volunteer or find out more ways on how you can support the Read to Kids program, contact Becky Malmat at 909.980.2857 ext. 223 or click here for more information.

Kids Pack Food Drive Helpers Needed!

Did you know that one in five children in our region live in poverty and many are at-risk of going to bed hungry? 

Fortunately, Inland Empire United Way feeds 1,200 homeless and very low-income children every weekend to help meet this great need.  Through our Kids Pack program, IEUW provides backpacks full of nutritious food to disadvantaged children at schools throughout the Inland Empire - ensuring kids are fed and are able to engage in school and succeed.

We need your help!  Each week, we distribute approximately 10,000 food items in the Kids Pack backpacks and we need your help to get those products donated.  Running a Kids Pack Food Drive is an easy, fun and powerful project that can be done at your site (an office, school, church, etc.) or at a local grocery store.  We will provide all of the materials...we just need people to coordinate drives around our community! 

As a matter of fact, April 10^th to 16^th is National Volunteer Week and we have a goal of hosting 25 Kids Pack Food Drives.  If you are interested in hosting a drive that week or any other time, please contact Meghan Meade at 909.980.2857 ext. 227 or mmeade@ieuw.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

As printed in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Saturday, February 12, 2011

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Inland Empire United Way opened the doors of its Hermosa Avenue office on Friday for the community to learn about 211, a phone service that officials believe not many residents are aware.

The program began about four years ago in San Bernardino County, allowing anyone to call 211 and get information about social services such as food banks, rent payment assistance and shelter.

"We were excited when we would get 50 calls a day," said Gary Madden, director of 211 San Bernardino County. "Now we get almost 6,000 a month."

Members of nonprofits and government agencies toured the local United Way office on what was billed National 211 Day. Visitors got a glimpse of the 211 call enter as well as facilities for the School Tools and Kids Pack programs.

The call center, which is run by 18 people who takes calls 24 hours a day, offers information about 2,500 community groups that offer social services to San Bernardino residents.

"Even if you call at 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve, you're going to get someone picking up," said Gregory Bradbard, president of Inland Empire United Way.

The center allows callers to find information without having to shop around at different agencies.

"We're the Google of social services," Madden said

Click here to read the full article from the Daily Bulletin on the event!

February 2011: Company of the Month

We are pleased to announce that UPS has been named Inland Empire United Way's February 2011 Company of the Month!

UPS is the top workplace giving contributor to Inland Empire United Way and is also a strong advocate for volunteerism; spending countless hours volunteering with us and our agency partners throughout the year. Recently, our local UPS branch decided to increase their involvement by delivering our Kids Pack bags to EVERY school that we serve!

Thank you and congratulations UPS!

Visit our website to read the full article and be sure to click here to watch our video from our UPS Media day!