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July 2012 Newsletter

9th Annual Jason Richardson Golf Classic - 7.11.12

 

Pictured is the first place Covenant HealthCare team with NBA all-star, Jason Richardson. 

More than $32,000 raised for community at 9th Annual Jason Richardson Golf Classic


 

On Wednesday, July 11, NBA all-star and Saginaw native, Jason Richardson returned home to host his 9th Annual Golf Classic. The event was hosted at The Fortress Golf Course in Frankenmuth and once again this year, was a sold-out event.

 

This year, more than $32,000 was raised for the Saginaw community. In total, Richardson's involvement with the outings over the past nine years has helped raise more than $165,000 for United Way of Saginaw County and our 19 partnering agencies.

 

Every year at the outing we offer each team the chance to play for their favorite partnering agency. If their team comes in first, second or third place, the partnering agency will then receive a donation in honor of the winning team. Congratulations to the following teams and agencies:

   1st place - Covenant HealthCare - $600 to CAN Council (Ed Bruff, Jim Foresman, Steve Latenski and Al Pumford)

   2nd place - Dow Corning Healthcare Industries Materials Site - $500 to Big Brothers Big Sisters (Matt Ludwig, Thomas White, Tyronza Snowden and Jerod Wrzesinski)

   3rd place - John E Green Company - $400 to American Red Cross (Brian Bugbee, Tom Schmidt, Neil Hamlin and Mike O'Connor)

 

Thank you so much to all the golfers, sponsors, donors and community supporters who helped make our outing such a success! Also a special thank you to Jason Richardson for helping host the outing and underwriting the event, our breakfast sponsor - John Hancock Financial, our lunch sponsors, The Dow Chemical Company and Qualified Staffing Services and all the tee sponsors.

 

Be sure to check out pictures from the event on our website and facebook page. View our Animoto video with event pictures!


Nexteer Automotive Family Fun Day

   

United Way staff members Kim, Henrietta and Tracy helping out and showing how they LIVE UNITED at Family Fun Day!

 

 

United Way and our partnering agencies were invited to join in the fun at Nexteer Automotive's annual Family Fun Day. This was a great chance for our team to thank all the employees and their families at Nexteer who show their support for United Way year-round. It was also a great way for us and our programs to hand out helpful resources and information. Thank you to our friends at Nexteer for inviting us to be part of their day!


"What we do for ourselves dies with us - what we do for others remains and is immortal." ~Albert Pike

New Faces at the United Way Office


  

Stephanie Yarnell joins our office as the new HMIS Coordinator. Originally from Manistee, Michigan and a recent Central Michigan University graduate, Stephanie's degree in Sociology and passion for statistics will help her in her new role. "Statistics and data have always fascinated me, especially when it involves following general trends over time and creating a positive change for society," said Stephanie. In her new role, Stephanie will be in charge of the data that goes into the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). She will be watching the data, gathering it for reports, reporting the data and training new users on the system among other duties. Stephanie can be reached at 755-0505 ext. 207.

 

Joshua Hales has proudly accepted his new role as AmeriCorps Program Director. Joshua was born and raised in Saginaw Township and received his Bachelor's degree in Social Work from Saginaw Valley State University. He previously worked as a Certified Prevention Specialist for Prevention and Youth Services, conducting substance abuse prevention programs all over Saginaw County as well as making him the perfect fit for his new role! Now Joshua is responsible for facilitating and managing the 20 AmeriCorps members serving our community as they enhance drug prevention programs that are already facilitated at the following agencies: CAN Council, Youth Protection Council, YMCA and Lake Huron Area Council Boy Scouts of America. Joshua can be reached at 755-0505 ext. 225

 

Please help us welcome Stephanie and Joshua to the United Way team!


Getting to Know You

5 Minutes with a UWSC Board Member

 


Name: Melissa Spranger 


Title:
Vice President of Commercial Loans, Citizens Bank

 

How did you first become involved with United Way?
 
I started with the bank in 2000. Citizens Bank has always encouraged United Way participation and has yearly campaigns to raise money. We have fun competitions among the departments - including: bake sales, jean days, etc. to support United Way. I am a new member of the board and look forward to supporting the organization in a different capacity.

 

Where did you grow up? Deckerville, Michigan

 

Education: Bachelors in Accounting from Baker College and a Masters in Business Administration from Saginaw Valley State University.

 

What brought you to Saginaw County? Our jobs. My husband and I are both from Deckerville and when we graduated college we both found ourselves working in Saginaw County. It is a great place to live and raise our family.

 

Family: My husband - Rich and twin girls -Emily & Adrienne who will be in 7th grade

 

Interests: Reading, watching movies, traveling and spending time with family & friends

  

Favorite Book/Magazine: This is difficult because I am an avid reader. I recently read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and really enjoyed it. It is a book I will read again.

 

Favorite United Way event: Campaign Kick-off; it is a fun event to build excitement about the new campaign and get everyone thinking United Way!

 

What do you hope to gain from your involvement with United Way? I hope to further my awareness of Saginaw County and what we can do to help our neighbors in need. We are all busy and sometimes we get caught up in our own lives, you don't realize the need of others and how simple it may be to lend a helping hand.


UWSC Summer Office Hours

Summer Office Hours

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, United Way of Saginaw County will operate during the following hours:

 

Monday through Thursday

 * 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

 * Closed between Noon and 1 p.m. for lunch

 

Friday

 * 8 a.m. - Noon

 

You can reach United Way by calling (989) 755-0505. Or visit our website, www.UnitedWaySaginaw.org.


Upcoming Events

Campaign Kick-off

Wednesday, September 12

 * Hosted at The Dow Event Center

 * 5 - 6:30 p.m.

 * More details to be announced

 

Project Independence
 

Saturday, September 15

 * Annual mobility ramp blitz build will take place at 10 homes throughout Saginaw County

UWSC Completes Membership Requirements

 

United Way of Saginaw County is proud to be one of the 188 United Ways that have completed the 2012 Membership Requirements with United Way Worldwide. To receive this icon, United Ways must complete the annual Database 2 survey, submit the Membership Certification that is reviewed by the local United Way's board of directors and be in compliance with all requirements of membership.


Volunteer Opportunities

Getting involved is fun! Here are a few highlighted volunteer opportunities in our community:

Make an impact in your community! Campaign Volunteers are needed to help with fundraising. Volunteers are needed August through December to help with soliciting local businesses.

 

Would you like to help people and work with a dedicated group of volunteers? Warm, friendly people are needed to be greeters at one of the UWSC Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program sites from the end of January through mid-April, 2013.

 

Do you like working with numbers and enjoy helping people? Looking for volunteers who would like to prepare income tax returns for low income residents of Saginaw County. Training is mandatory and provided free of charge in early January. You must test and become certified by the IRS.

 

Aftercare canteen volunteers are needed to serve cookies and juice to donors after they donate blood.

 

If you are interested in any of these volunteer opportunities or would like to get involved in the community, please contact Henrietta Watson at (989) 755-0505, ext. 216.


Sharing a Success Story

Submitted by Joanie Covert, Homeless Prevention Specialist:

As the Housing Resource Assessment Agency (HARA) for Saginaw County, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) cited United Way's work with preventing homelessness and housing the homeless at their recent Regional Core Housing Team Meeting in Midland.

 

Agencies are struggling to reach clients with limited case management dollars. With the process we developed with our partner, Youth Protection Council, we are able to leverage case management dollars through other sources not directly tied to the MSHDA Emergency Solutions Grant, thereby offering full time case management services.

This allows us to provide outreach and services to many more of our residents suffering economic downturns.

 

By providing this one-on-one service we have been successful in preventing and ending homelessness to more than 700 residents and families in Saginaw County. Our process and procedures were highlighted as best practices to aid other regions in developing similar processes and procedures to achieve better outcomes region-wide.


Labor News

2012 Labor Kick-off/ School Supply Drive

To kick-off the United Way annual fundraising campaign, our labor partners will be hosting a school supply drive to assist the after school programs at our partnering agencies: YMCA, First Ward Community Center, Salvation Army, Neighborhood House, Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan and Lake Huron Area Council Boy Scouts of America.

 

Materials needed include: notebooks, colored pencils, number 2 pencils, pocket folders, rulers, pens, erasers, glue sticks, safety scissors, crayons, markers and more. 

 

The community is encouraged to participate and help the students at these after school programs. Please drop off your materials by August 20 to United Way or your Local Union Hall.

 

Contact Steve Lamb with any questions, 755-0505, ext. 204.


GIVE TODAY.

 

Visit www.UnitedWaySaginaw.org to make your online donation.

Remember, every gift makes a BIG difference in the lives of others.

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