Campaign Cabinet volunteers presenting how much money was raised during the 2011 annual fundraising campaign.

(Left to right: Anthony Taylor, Teresa Santana, Terrie Chronowski, Teresa Pruden, Keith Wenzel, Steve Schlicht, Cheryl Zinz, Ann Curran, Tom Schlecht and Leslie Orozco)

United Way Event Highlights

Thank you to everyone who purchased a $5 raffle ticket in support of the United Way 2011 Raffle. We were able to raise more than $8,000 in ticket sales to help with our 2011 annual fundraising campaign.

A special thank you to Spence Brothers for hosting and organizing the raffle as well as all of the prize donors and sponsors including: Bierlein Companies, John E. Green, Spence Brothers, Valley Electric, Boice Bird & Sons, Sears - Fashion Square, HYMMCO and Meijer.

Congratulations to each of the winners:

• 50"+ HDTV Flat Screen - Rick Wenzlick
• $500 Morley Travel Voucher - Mike Hirschman
• Kenmore BBQ Grill - Nicole Royer
• Benelli Nova Pump Shotgun - Fred Young
• Red Wings Package - David Douglass
• $200 Meijer Gift Card - Rick Wenzlick
• $100 Kroger Gift Card - Bob Cramer

After changing things up a bit, our 5th Annual Step Up for United Way event raised more than $700 to help with the 2011 annual fundraising campaign.

Partnering with the YMCA, we invited members and nonmembers to donate $10 to STEP UP for United Way. In return, the participants received a free LIVE UNITED t-shirt and a chance to win a free membership for a year to the YMCA.

Congratulations to Bill Zielinski for being the STEP UP winner!

Thank you to the YMCA for hosting our event and to Covenant HealthCare and The Dow Chemical Company for sponsoring our event.

Members of United Way's AmeriCorps program participated in several community activities centered around Martin Luther King Jr. day.

AmeriCorps members helped facilitate and organize activities hosted by the YMCA. Some members participated in the MLK community walk from SASA to the Dow Event Center. Other AmeriCorps members partnered with high school students and visited local nursing homes. At the nursing homes the members and students visited with veterans and other residents, participated in craft projects together and even helped the vets out during BINGO games.

"I truly enjoyed visiting with the residents of the Hoyt Nursing Center. I had the pleasure of sitting at a table with three other ladies and listened to their likes and dislikes. I would love to go back and visit them more! BINGO was also a fun experience because even though I and the other volunteers were not actually playing BINGO, we encouraged and cheered for the veterans when they obtained the coveted BINGO!"

          ~Cara Cole, AmeriCorps Member

On Saturday, January 28 United Way hosted a free, Show Me the Money Day event at the First Congregational Church in Saginaw. This was the first time that the event had been offered in Saginaw County. Saginaw was one of six locations across the state of Michigan providing residents with resources from various local financial institutions and nonprofit organizations.

State Representative Stacey Erwin Oakes and IRS Media Relations, Luis Garcia kicked off the event by speaking to the group of participants on the benefits of financial education. Lavel Jackson served as the event emcee.

Following the kick-off, participants were able to attend free financial education workshops. The workshop topics featured a housing panel discussion, tips for repairing your credit and how to find hidden cash. Participants had the opportunity to visit vendors from 24 various financial institutions, community groups and nonprofit organizations.

Door prize donors were very generous, which allowed us to raffle off 9 items in each workshop. The final raffle prize was a Dell laptop computer and case, donated by Custom Built Computers.

The event was sponsored by the CRA Bankers Forum and welcomed close to 60 participants.

Thank you to all the participants, volunteers, sponsors, vendors and speakers for making this first-annual event such a success and for providing Saginaw County residents with helpful information.

 "Check Off" for United Way

United Way of Saginaw County is encouraging residents to "check off" for the United Way Fund when filing their state tax returns.

Form 4642 on the 2011 state income tax return allows residents to donate all or part of their state tax refund to the United Way Fund. The money will then go to your local United Way based on your zip code listed on your return.

The funds received will help assist low to moderate income families in Michigan with basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. 

More than $2.3 million raised to support Saginaw County!

United Way of Saginaw County is grateful for the generosity of our donors. The funds raised are used to help us create impact in Saginaw County. Your support gives us the opportunity to form partnerships, facilitate projects and generate results in our community! Thank you for LIVING UNITED! 

If you have not seen our "Campaign Celebration Thank You" video yet, please click here to view it.

Community Impact Program Updates

Thank you to all of the donors and volunteers who helped make the holiday season brighter for others in Saginaw County. Through the Holiday Wish List program, we were able to provide assistance to 377 families.

The families that the program serves really appreciate all the help that they receive. Here is a thank you letter from one of the families:

Thank you Wish List,

I know that this is a little late but I wanted to wait and say thanks after Christmas so I could tell you how excited my daughter was to open and wear all the Dora jewelry and how much my son loves his new coat. I can't say thanks enough. You have no clue how nice it is to vacuum or to be able to cook a whole meal without having to switch and wash the pots and pans. It was so very appreciated.Thank you all so very much. You all were a blessing and made our holiday extra special. Thank you,

~WISH #1169 

Seven schools have received Volunteer START grants to help them create meaningful service projects during the 2011-12 school year. The students will design, organize and facilitate 9 projects while partnering with local nonprofit organizations.

This program is funded by the H.R. Wickes Foundation.

Best wishes to the students and advisors as they work hard to complete their community impact projects!

VITA sites will officially open the week of January 30.

Volunteers will be available at various dates and times throughout the eight Saginaw County sites. (Click here to view a full list of sites, dates and times.) 

For the first time this year we have official VITA sites at Freeland High School and Rauchholz Memorial Library in Hemlock.

We cannot say thank you enough to all the volunteers that help make this program possible. Also a special thank you to Yeo and Yeo staff, Terrie Chronowski, Gary Reidlinger and Sharon McCartney for facilitating the first day of training. Thank you to Barb Witkowski and Tim Slezak for all their efforts in putting together and facilitating all of the computer training. 

Upcoming Events

Please save the date and plan on joining us for breakfast on April 17th as we host our annual community awards event. Doors will open at 7:30 a.m. and the program will begin at 8 a.m. 

(Formal invitations will be mailed)

United Way in the News - miss a press release or news story on United Way? Check our online news room to find the latest story.

Campaign Pictures - our online photo gallery has all the pictures we have taken during the 2011 annual giving campaign. If you have pictures you would like to include, we would love to see and share them. Please email the jpg images to Kelly and we will include them in our future publications.