A Letter from our President

Summer is fast approaching.  Summer means golf, swimming, picnics, gardening, and fresh vegetables from our garden in Indiana.  My husband enjoys spending his time there while I am working.  It also means lots of work for me since I can and freeze our fresh vegetables.  There is nothing better in the dead of winter than the taste of sweet corn frozen and stored from the summer.

Summer also means we start gearing up for our Fall Campaign.  Mitchell Willis is working hard with the Campaign Cabinet lead by John Venturella a partner with Clark Schaefer Hackett.  Also, we are pleased to announce Lee Geiger of Graydon Head has accepted the Vice Chair Position.  He will be our Campaign Chair in 2015-16.

We just finished the allocations process and a big thank you goes out to all the volunteers who reviewed and made recommendations for funding.  Also Krystal Tipton deserves recognition for jumping in and taking on this new role.  She worked tirelessly documenting and providing information to the Action Councils.  We have some plans for automating and improving our processes as we move forward.

As I reflect on the last seven months I think about how many people have helped bring me up the learning curve and have been good mentors, sounding boards and provided help to our team at Butler County United Way.   Our core values are caring, collaboration and trust.  There are so many who have been there for us but I want to especially recognize our other United Way partners in the region.    I can't thank the group at United Way Greater Cincinnati for all their help so far. They are Rob Reifsnyder, Ross Meyers, Charles Wright, Yvonne Washington, Chris Martin, Amy Roberts, Kathy Buckley and Terry Sherrer (Middletown Area).  Dayton Area United Way's President and CEO Tom Malbty has given Melissa Bruck some time to help train us on our CRM system Andar along with Malonya ......  Arron Reid from Warren County United Way was the first to reach out to me and we continue to meet on a regular basis.  Last but not least is Brian Revalee Exective Director for the Oxford and Vicinity United Way.  We attended the New President's Conference in Fairfax Virginia and he has spent time researching our Butler County Coalition for 211 in conjunction with Greater Cincinnati United Way.  So when I think of all these folks it makes me realize that we do practice "Living United".  Thanks to all for past and future help.  I know you are just a phone call away and intend to return the kindness.

As you are making plans for all you favorite activities, remember we have neighbors and friends who aren't as blessed as some of us.  There are children that need safe places to go, people who need shelter from the hot humid summer, people who need more training to find a job and become self sufficient.  Your donations to Butler County United Way go to programs that help those neighbors and friends.   Thanks to all the donors and volunteers who support Butler County United Way.

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