United Way of Greater Williamsburg NEWSLETTER

United Way of
Greater Williamsburg

April 2014 Newsletter

In This Issue

Pass the Torch

Volunteer Celebration

Campaign Snapshot

Welcome 2014 Board

2014 Day of Caring

Yankee Candle Village December Coin Drive

In December Yankee Candle held a Coin Drive and donated all the coins in their fountain to United Way. They raised $1,683. Thank you to Yankee Candle Village and everyone who donated.

Thank You to Our

Volunteer Celebration

Sponsors

Double Tree Hotel and

Chesapeake Bank

Upcoming United Way and Funded Agency Events

2014 WARA Iron Chef

Wine and Food Expo

APRIL 12, 2014

5:30 pm-9:30 pm

Williamsburg Lodge

$60 per person or

$110 per couple

Visit-www.WARAREST.com

A portion of the proceeds will be given to Williamsburg Hospice House

Join Hospice House for their 2nd Annual Hike for Hospice on

April 26, 2014,

from 12:15-4:30 p.m.

in beautiful Park East of Governor's Land.

Registration Fee: $25/Hiker prior to April 1 $35 on or after April 1.

For more information visit: WilliamsburgHospice.org

Do Something

Blue in the

Month of April

Appetite for Advocacy -April 18th all day event at Williamsburg Buffalo Wild Wings (download ticket from website or contact Colonial CASA directly for 10% of tickets sales to be made to CASA).

LATIN FESTIVAL

Fun for the whole family!

Saturday, May 17th

10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Located at St. Bede Catholic Church

Tickets only $5

Join us for Food,

Live Music, Crafts and Inflatables! Proceeds will benefit Literacy for Life

Country for Kids 2014 featuring Frankie Ballard

Location: PBR in Hampton

May 10th, 2014 7:30pm

General Admission tickets $15, VIP Tickets $53.50 (include VIP pre party with catered dinner and 2 drink tickets, access to VIP viewing area). All funds received benefit the children and family programs at the Center for Child and Services. For tickets and information please visit:

www.countryforkids.com

United Way

Programs

United Way of Greater Williamsburg is always looking for solutions to challenges that our residents face. We currently have several programs in place to help address those challenges. Below is a list of our programs and the number of peopled influenced to date.

Community Resource Center (CRC)-

The CRC is United Way's direct service to the community. They assist low income and homeless residents with with a variety of different needs from; rent and utility assistance, transportation, medical needs, and furniture needs, to name a few. They assist, on average, 1,000 individuals a month. In 2013, the CRC helped 11,170 residents.

Mobile Food Pantry- Through our partnership with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank and other community sponsors our monthly Mobile Food Pantry offers fresh produce, meats, and USDA foods. Since December 2013, 247 residents have benefited from the Pantry.

Legal Advocate Program-

The Williamsburg Bar Association provides legal consultation services to persons who would otherwise be unable to afford legal services. As of February 2014, they have assisted 18 individuals.

Furniture Share Program-

As we started placing homeless and precariously housed individuals and families into permanent housing a need arose for furniture. We collect donations once a month and disperse as the need arises. To date, we have provided furniture to 22 households.

Re-Entry Program (Welcome Home Guest House Program)- This program provides stable housing and support services to previously incarcerated individuals. To date, the program has housed 14 men and woman.

Housing Collaborative Program- The Greater Williamsburg Housing Collaborative is a collective of housing service providers servicing citizens in the Greater Williamsburg area who cannot afford housing and who need assistance in planning for a financially

stable future. The United Way, in partnership with the Housing Collaborative, placed 4 households in 2013. Collectively, 28 months of permanent housing.

Pass the Torch

Marshall Warner, Executive Vice President and Senior Loan Officer of Chesapeake Bank, has been United Way of Greater Williamsburg Board President for the past two years, Campaign Chair from 2009-2011, and a volunteer for many years. Under his leadership we have added several new programs, moved and expanded our Community Resource Center, and made improvements to better serve our community. Thank you, Mr. Warner, for your service to United Way of Greater Williamsburg. We appreciate your time served and look forward to continuing our relationship with you and Chesapeake Bank. At the same time, while we say farewell to Mr. Warner, we welcome our new Board President and past Campaign Chair, Mark Duncan, Director of Community, College, and Government Relations with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Mark has been an enthusiastic Campaign Chair and United Way Board Vice President since 2011. His compassion and empathy for our community and residents will help guide us to new and innovative ways to better serve Greater Williamsburg.

VOLUNTEER CELEBRATION

Nearly 100 people joined us on March 12th to celebrate volunteers who were so generous of their time in 2013. Double Tree Hotel and Chesapeake Bank sponsored the event held at the Double Tree Hotel near Kingsmill. United Way of Greater Williamsburg relies on volunteers to help staff the CRC to assist clients, schedule appointments, and organize food and clothes donations. Other volunteers help with the monthly mobile food pantry, furniture moves, attorneys that donate their time to give legal advice, and help mobilize the community during our annual Day of Caring. This celebration gives us the opportunity to say THANK YOU!

The following volunteers and businesses received special recognition for their hard work and great efforts in 2013:

CRC Volunteers Of The Year: Mary Liz Sadler and Florence Downes

Businesses Of The Year: Chesapeake Bank, Yankee Candle Village,

Virginia Gazette, PB Mares, and Child Development Resources.

Coordinators Of The Year: Bart Johnson of James City County,

Reed Nester of City of Williamsburg, and Mary Grogan of Williamsburg Landing.

Rookies Of The Year: Felicia Highland of WJCC School Division and

Melania Macone of Anheuser Busch.

Thank you for helping us LIVE UNITED!

2013 Campaign Snapshot

We want to thank all the citizens, businesses and organizations that supported United Way of Greater Williamsburg in 2013. With your continued support, we have completed another successful year of campaign donations, in-kind gifts, and volunteer hours. Below are some statistics that illustrate the impact this generosity has on our organization and our ability to help the community.

In 2013, more than 700 volunteers donated their time, expertise, and compassion to United Way of Greater Williamsburg events and activities. Their efforts amounted to more than 7,000 volunteer hours representing $161,700 in service to the Greater Williamsburg community.

United Way supporters donated clothing, food, household items, diapers, coats, furniture, office supplies, and professional services in 2013. In-kind donations to the United Way totaled $30,178.
Local businesses in the Greater Williamsburg community support the efforts of the United Way in a variety of ways. Sponsorships for special events like the Day of Caring and the Women's Wellness Symposium allow us to expand our community reach. In 2013, sponsorships from local businesses for United Way events and activities totaled $35,442.