Waterloo Region Record editorial

If you missed the great editorial entitled "United Ways deserve our help" in the Friday September 23 edition of the Waterloo Region Record, be sure to click here and check it out.

Here's my favourite paragraph from a campaign perspective:

"Either through channelling donated money or volunteer time, United Way organizations are making our communities better places in which to live. And they richly deserve all the support our communities can give them."

And here's my favourite paragraph in terms of helping people understand what it is that United Way does in the community:

"Interestingly, United Way organizations are altering their focus. They are putting less emphasis on their role as an umbrella organization that raises money and are focusing more on issues in the community that require major change."

Thanks also to the other local media outlets - radio, TV and print - that highlighted our 2nd Annual Day of Caring. This type of coverage is critical in helping us spread our message and garner the support needed to keep this community strong.

Jan

Putting caring into action – the big day is almost here!

September 21, 2011, our second annual Day of Caring, is coming up fast. Special thanks to Manulife Financial for sponsoring the day this year. With their support, I know we’re really going to get the message out that people can make change happen through volunteer efforts. That’s what Day of Caring is all about - fostering volunteerism in our community by showing people they can make a difference with more than just dollars. They just need to put caring into action.
  
Last year, 21 teams of volunteers worked on projects ranging from yard work and deep cleaning to think tank participation. I helped paint a large mural on the KW Multicultural Centre building. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for me this year!

Know what else is special about our upcoming Day of Caring? It’s the one year anniversary of my first tweet! For those of you who don’t believe I know how to use Twitter (don’t deny it, I know you’re out there), here’s a picture of me during last year’s Day of Caring, getting lessons from our Communications Officer, Meg Lagrotta.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
See you at noon on Wednesday September 21, on King Street in downtown Kitchener (by city hall) for our Day of Caring celebrations and workplace campaign launch. We’ll be sharing the street with the Downtown Kitchener BIA as they host their employee appreciation day. For the rest of the particulars, be sure to visit http://www.uwaykw.org/.

 
Jan
 
PS - Meg said to tell you to follow hashtag #dayofcaringkw, whatever that means. (Maybe I need to brush up on my Twitter just a little.)

A BIG welcome to our WCCs, and a HUGE thanks to their sponsors!

It’s that time of year again when our annual Fall Workplace Campaign ramps up. This campaign wouldn’t be nearly as successful each year without the addition of Workplace Campaign Coordinators (WCCs) to our staff roster. These individuals come to us through the generosity of local organizations and individuals participating in our sponsored employee program.

With salary and benefits paid by their sponsors, WCCs join forces with our staff to support and inspire hundreds of workplace campaigns in our community. They assist these workplaces in planning, implementing and monitoring their United Way campaigns, while honing and refining their skills in sales, customer service, public speaking, leadership, project management, networking and strategic analysis.

Many of our WCCs come from post-secondary institutions. Some are sponsored by the schools themselves, while others come to us through the generosity of local individuals.

Please join me in giving a BIG welcome to our new WCCs, and a HUGE thanks to their sponsors:

Esther Song  -  University of Waterloo

Matthew Wong  -  University of Waterloo

Renee Walkom  -  Wilfrid Laurier University

Annette Walker  -  Region of Waterloo

Carrie Bergen-Geisel  -  Manulife Financial


To learn more about our sponsored employee program, please visit our web site or contact Rene Porritt at rporritt@uwaykw.org or 519-888-6100 ext. 287.

Jan

Lisa LaFlamme to headline our 2011 Celebrity Event

Reporter Joel Rubinoff wrote a great feature in The Waterloo Region Record last Saturday about Lisa LaFlamme, the Kitchener native who rose through the ranks of television news and broke through the proverbial glass ceiling to recently take over from Lloyd Robertson as chief anchor of the CTV evening news.

Here’s how Joel describes Lisa in the article:
“She’s a doer, not a whiner, an optimist, not a cynic, a passionate, committed trailblazer who rises to challenges, grabs opportunities and, confronted with opposition, pushes beyond it.”
 
She sounds like someone just as worthy of being the news as she is worthy of delivering it, doesn’t she? Which is why I’m so thrilled that it’s Lisa we’re honouring at this year’s United Way Kitchener Waterloo and Area Annual Celebrity Event on Friday November 25th at Federation Hall.
  
Tickets go on sale later this month, and you’ll find more details about the event at http://www.uwaykw.org/.
 
Hope to see you there!

Jan

Text-to-Give campaign for Goderich raises much-needed support

I’m pleased to report that our text-to-give campaign in support of those affected by the recent tornado in Goderich raised $2855. These funds, along with some additional donations from individuals without texting capabilities, are being passed on to United Way Perth-Huron, which serves the Goderich area.

I was so pleased to see the support from the community, media partners and social media outlets. We’ve never seen so many retweets! Our community put caring into action by texting their financial support and sharing it with their networks. As our Communications Officer, Meg Lagrotta, wrote in her recent Community Heroes blog on the subject, “that’s a whole lot of texting going on!”

Thanks to Libro Financial Group for making this campaign possible. With their support, we became one of the first United Ways in Canada to launch mobile giving.

Our mobile giving campaign continues throughout our fall workplace campaign season in support of those in need here in the KW area. Up to 6 times per month, you can text “UWAY” to 45678 to donate $5 to United Way KW. The amount gets added your phone bill.

Thanks for caring,

Jan