	United Way St. Croix Valley

Your Community News - July 2016

Learn how your support is making a difference locally.

* Pictured: Partner agency Girl Scouts of the MN & WI River Valleys

Xcel Energy Supports Food Resource Center

Xcel Energy generously donated $2,000 towards a United Way St. Croix Valley Food Resource Center (FRC) shipment benefiting 12 area pantries and two shelters.

Since opening February of 2008, the FRC has distributed more than 1,048,217 pounds of food and other products to area pantries, shelters and meal programs in Pierce, Polk and St. Croix Counties. That is the equivalent of 806,078 meals for the hungry. United Way is thankful for Xcel Energy's continued support. If your company is interested in donating volunteer hours to help organize the FRC food distribution and/or make a financial donation so we can continue to provide healthy food to fill the gap for the food shelves who serve those in need in our communities, please contact Executive Director Ann Searles at ann@unitedwaystcroix.org or 715-377-0203 ext. 102.

Success By 6 and Family Friendly Workplace Featured at Statewide United Way Conference


	Mary Sue Ash speaking at the United Ways of MN Conference.

United Way St. Croix Valley Success By 6 Coordinator Mary Sue Ash and Success By 6 Engagement Specialist Lara Otsuka were asked to present as part of the Community Impact segment of the United Ways of Minnesota Statewide Conference on June 16. During the segment, different counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin shared their ideas for making positive change in their communities, and Ash and Otsuka spoke about UWSCV's Success By 6 and Family Friendly Workplace initiatives.

Success By 6

Ash, who has been coordinating SB6 since its inception in 2004 and is also Chair of the St. Croix County Early Childhood Interagency Council, gave an overview of the mission and vision of SB6 and some of the programs it supports in the St. Croix Valley--parent educator visits in-hospital after delivery, parent-child education and support classes, home visits by a parent educator, quality childcare and developmental screenings.

"There is a window of opportunity in the first few years of life," explained Ash. "Beliefs and patterns of behavior shaped in our early years carry forward throughout our lifetime," she continued.

Family Friendly Workplace

Otsuka then spoke about the FFW certification program as a way to create sustainable funding for the SB6 program as well as to create a better working environment for families. Certification fees paid by companies who qualify as family-friendly directly support SB6 and the early childhood programs it supports in Western Wisconsin. Some of the categories of family-friendly policies are Health Care Coverage, Childcare Cost Support, Maternity/Paternity Leave and Financial Support of Success By 6. There are three levels of certification: Bronze, Silver and Gold.

"The reason we have the three levels is that we want this program to be accessible to businesses of all sizes," said Otsuka. "Even very small organizations can adopt practices that benefit families and the community."

For More Information

For more information on Success By 6 or Family Friendly Workplace, or to learn how your business can become certified, contact Otsuka at 715-377-0203 ext. 107 or lotsuka@unitedwaystcroix.org. You may also visit the Success By 6 and Family Friendly Workplace websites.

Online Auction Raises $1,444 for Basic Needs

This year's United Way St. Croix Valley online auction fundraiser raised $1,444 to support programs that provide basic needs such as food and shelter. The auction ran from June 2 to July 14 and featured items donated by 26 organizations.

United Way St. Croix Valley extends its thanks to those who donated:

In-Kind Donors

Artgirl56	Badlands Sno-Park	Carbone's Pizzeria Hudson	Family Fresh Market Hudson
Green Bay Packers	Guthrie Theater	Hudson Bagel & Coffee Co.	Jill Ann Anderson
Kwik Trip Hudson	Mall of America	Metropolis Resort	Milwaukee Admirals
Milwaukee Bucks	Milwaukee Summerfest	Pita Pit Hudson	Saint Paul Saints
Six Flags Great America	St. Croix Valley Foundation	Stampin' Up!	The Black Oar
The Orange Door	The Parkside Restaurant & Bar	United Way St. Croix Valley	US Bancorp
UWSCV Board of Directors	Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

News Bites

PressEnter Supports United Way

L to R: Ann Searles of UWSCV and Deena Reisman of PressEnter!

Thank you to PressEnter! and all of you for another successful "Like" for a dollar fundraiser. We received 250 new likes on our Facebook page, so PressEnter donated $250.

Chuck & Don's Supports United Way

Thank you to Chuck and Don's for the 1,000 pounds of pet food donated to our Food Resource Center as part of their Black Friday fundraiser.

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