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Welcome to United Way's September 2012 E-newsletter!
United Way of Allen County is pleased to welcome you to the September 2012 newsletter.
If you do not wish to receive these e-newsletters, please click the "unsubscribe" link at either the top or bottom of this email. If you're looking forward to learning more about how United Way is working to make our community a better place for everyone, do nothing and you'll remain on our e-newsletter list.
Thank you for your commitment to United Way and the Allen County community.
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| 2012 United Way Campaign Kicks Off to Increase Funding for Education, Income, Health and Basic Needs
United Way of Allen County leaders are increasing the Community Campaign goal to improve short-term and long-term outcomes for local residents. Volunteer Campaign Chair Jeff Miller announced the goal of $5,400,000, challenging current donors to increase their contributions and new businesses and donors to get involved with United Way. This goal is approximately six percent greater than what the community pledged during the 2011 Campaign, which totaled $5.1 million.
"We're off to a great start with both new and increased gifts and we want to keep that momentum going," said Jeff Miller, site executive at Raytheon. "With new campaigns at business leaders like Vera Bradley and Medical Protective and seasoned pacesetter campaigns like those at Swiss Re and UPS, I'm confident we'll meet this increased goal."
In fact, those new campaigns were highlighted at the news conference along with the public announcement of Vera Bradley's $25,000 corporate contribution to their workplace campaign. It was also shared that English Bonter Mitchell Foundation increased their grant to United Way by $25,000. Both of these new gifts will be matched dollar for dollar by funds from the Indiana Association of United Ways.
"The matching funds we have available from the Indiana Association of United Ways are an excellent way to make your dollars go even further," said Miller.
Donations to United Way support programs at 34 partner agencies leads several initiatives in the four priority areas of education, income, health and basic needs. The education initiatives include successful programs such as Real Men Read and School Buddies, which are coordinated by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana, as well as expanded early childhood programming aimed at kindergarten readiness. The 2-1-1- Services, supported by Lutheran Health Network, are operated by United Way and provide health and human service information and referrals to a ten county region in northeast Indiana. The Free Tax Prep Program, in partnership with the Volunteer Center @ RSVP, is another initiative that provides free, high-quality tax preparation for low- and moderate-income residents.
"Just as the needs and opportunities in our community grow and evolve, so does United Way," said Todd Stephenson, president and CEO of United Way of Allen County. "Our four priority areas of education, income, health and basic needs encompass the greatest needs in our community and we're expanding in areas such as our education initiatives to provide additional resources to support early childhood learning."
Anyone wanting to contribute to United Way's Community Campaign can give online at www.unitedwayallencounty.org or contact Chris Rouse, director of resource development, at 469-4001 or chrisr@uwacin.org.
Click here for the full press release:
2012 Community Campaign Goal
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2-1-1 Helps Disaster Relief
By using the national dialing code of 2-1-1, most northeast Indiana residents can get free, confidential and 24-hour information about as many as 2,000 local social services, such as shelter, food, legal aid, clothing, counseling, utility assistance, health care, transportation and more.
But 2-1-1 Services don't stop there. In the first two business days following the June 29 storm that affected thousands of residents in northeast Indiana, 2-1-1 staff handled nearly 250 disaster-related calls in addition to standard calls. In fact, disaster calls accounted for 38 percent of the total 2-1-1 call volume in the initial days following the storm. For the month of July, 2-1-1 made nearly 500 disaster-related referrals.
2-1-1 Services are equipped to help northeast Indiana with disaster relief by staying in communication and coordinating services with many other organizations, such as, the Mayor's office, 3-1-1, Emergency Management, Department of Health, American Red Cross, Fort Wayne Fire Department, Aging & In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana, American Electric Power, and the Volunteer Center @ RSVP. 2-1-1 staff worked diligently to maintain an up-to-date list of resources that were available in the community.
United Way of Allen County operates the Northeast Indiana 2-1-1 Services, which provides health and human service information and referrals to a ten county region: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley. Financial support comes primarily from Lutheran Health Network, United Way and United Fund organizations.
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Don't have a Will? Create One for Free.
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To help those who wish to leave a designated gift to charity, Write a Will - Leave a Legacy activities will be hosted October 15-18 across Allen County. This event invites those without a will to meet with an attorney and create a simple will that includes a donation to charity. With a charitable gift of any dollar value, the will is free.
On Thursday, October 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., United Way of Allen County will be a Write a Will - Leave a Legacy site. To make an appointment to talk about sustaining our community's future through the charitable organization of your choice, call Chris Rouse, director of resource development, at 260-469-4001 or chrisr@uwacin.org.
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Meet Dr. Jeanne Zehr
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United Way welcomes Jeanne Zehr as Director of Community Impact.
Zehr has more than 35 years of experience in education. She worked for East Allen County Schools in a number of capacities, including a classroom teacher, special education, resource teacher, principal of Southwick Elementary, Title I director and assistant superintendent. She also worked with an education program that focused on cognitive skills, which allowed her to travel internationally to train teachers in many different countries.
In her role as director of community impact, Zehr will lead the education initiative goals, ensuring children enter kindergarten ready to learn, as well as United Way's continued efforts to help kids reach the benchmark of reading at grade level by the end of third grade. She will also manage the community impact areas of income and basic needs, which includes oversight of United Way's 2-1-1 Service.
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Special Thanks to Day of Caring Teams!
| The 20th Annual Day of Caring was another great success thanks to approximately 1,100 volunteers who headed out into the community on Thursday, August 2. Teams from more than 60 local businesses, organizations and organized labor rolled up their sleeves and worked on 75 service projects throughout the Fort Wayne area. NIPSCO was the signature sponsor for this year's Day of Caring.
"Day of Caring really represents what United Way is all about," said Todd Stephenson, president and CEO of United Way of Allen County. "Day of Caring is an annual event where people step outside of the office and into the community to make it a better place for everyone, particularly individuals in need." Projects included cleaning, painting and landscaping at non-profit agencies, child care centers, after-school youth program sites and schools. Private residences were coordinated through NeighborLink. A full list of teams and projects can be found here. |
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Letter Carriers Collect 734,481 Pounds of Food
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United Way would like to extend a big thank you to the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) for another successful Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. O May 12, our community joined with the NALC Branch 116 and area carriers for their 20th annual food drive.
The results were astounding: 734,481 pounds were collected, making the Fort Wayne area number one in the state of Indiana, number one nationally for our metro size, and ninth overall in the nation. All food collected locally was distributed to 83 food banks and pantries in Northeast Indiana.
"Letter carriers see first-hand the needs in our community," said Milton Gray, local chair of the Stamp Out Hunger Letter Carriers' Food Drive. "The work of the letter carriers, our volunteers and all the local residents who helped us provide food that is needed by so many of our neighbors makes me proud to be a part of this effort."
"Since 2009, enrollment of households in Indiana's statewide food assistance program has increased 33 percent," said Todd Stephenson, CEO of United Way of Allen County. "Efforts like the Letter Carriers' Food Drive are crucial to helping residents meet their most basic needs."
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