Heart of West Michigan United Way

Last Friday marked the graduation of the 2006 class of loaned executives. Each year, United Ways around the country gratefully adopt a group of professionals on loan from local companies. These individuals are talented, passionate members of the United Way team who provide extra support during the campaign by calling on companies and sharing the United Way message.


Above: United Way's Resource Development team and 2006 Loaned Executives
The 2006 class of loaned executives spent two weeks learning about United Way and coming together as a team. The intensive training started with a challenging morning on a local ropes course and ended with a graduation ceremony. If anything can prepare a person for the crazy pace of campaign season, it has to be loaned executive training.

And what better way to welcome that crazy pace than with the official Campaign Kickoff and Day of Caring? Tomorrow is the day for United Way’s biggest event of the year and our community’s largest one-day volunteer event!

The kickoff starts at 7:30 AM at Steelcase Town Hall, and we plan to get our Day of Caring volunteers started right with some music, breakfast and empowering performances by local students. Campaign co-chairs Tim and Karen O’Donovan will also share the 2006 campaign goal at this time.

More than 1,000 corporate volunteers are expected to participate in service projects throughout our community. In one day alone, more than $70,000 in material and labor costs will be saved! Not only does this make for one of United Way’s most exciting days of the year, but it means there will be plenty of great photos and stories to share following the event. Watch our blog and the United Way website for updates.

With the Campaign Kickoff and Day of Caring just weeks away on September 7, United Way Center is busier than ever and the United Way team is reaching out to local companies to make their campaigns a success.

Wiffle Ball Anyone?
Steelcase Inc. caused a stir on behalf of our community last week when they hosted their annual Wiffle Ball Challenge. This incredible event is a mainstay for the company, with the commitment of their executive leadership being a key part of its success each year.

The Wiffle Ball Challenge featured music, t-shirts, food and sheer competition, with all of the proceeds benefitting United Way.

This is another great example of the work our corporate partners are doing to improve lives in our community. Many thanks to the Steelcase team -- we look forward to participating in the Wiffle Ball Challenge again next year!

Success for Seniors, Success for Our Community
A celebration party was held at United Way Center as the positive poll results rolled in on the Senior Millage on August 8. This is a big win for senior citizens in our community and involves important funding for a number of United Way partner agencies that support the West Michigan senior community.

Campaign Coordinator Council Talks Strategy
The Campaign Coordinator Council met on August 8 to discuss the 2006 Campaign and share some of their strategies for success.

Audrey Bajema was in attendance on behalf of JC Penney. Audrey is a United Way pro, having been a campaign coordinator for the past 15 years. She commented on the value of United Way's Caring Club in helping her campaign support United Way's Community Investment Fund.

"Caring Club is a good program that helps encourage more employees to give to the [community investment] fund," she explained. Since Caring Club was launched, the JC Penney campaign has seen a significant increase in the number of employees who give to the Community Investment Fund.

United Way's Community Investment Fund allows contributions to make the most impact in our community. The Community Investment Fund allows United Way and its partner agencies to access additional funds at the local, state and national levels. Because of this, more than $5 million in additional funding was brought to our community in 2005.

A gift of $156 or more annually to the Community Investment Fund qualifies donors for a Caring Club membership. With so many discounts available, about 50 local merchants participating and more investments made for our community, this is a great program for everyone involved!

“Can you help me?” Lydia asked. The 73-year-old woman needed help to get from her home to a doctor’s appointment. She had limited resources and struggled to maintain her independent living status.

“Yes!” The community answered.

People in our community have invested in a system that works for people like Lydia. By supporting a senior millage eight years ago, our community ensured a basic level of resources for seniors.

As the Baby Boomer generation transitions into their senior lives, needs will increase in our community as during the next three decades, the number of seniors will double.

The Heart of West Michigan United Way Board of Directors and staff support a “yes” vote for the senior millage on August 8, and we urge you to vote yes, too.

The investment in seniors is effective and works as hard as you do.
United Way’s 2-1-1, an information and referral hotline available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, handles about 60,000 calls for assistance each year. As a result of the effective community infrastructure including the Senior Millage, seniors are more likely to have their needs met. There are no resources to refer 7 percent of the requests from seniors, compared to 13.6 for the general population. But we still face the problem of unmet needs. In the past year, 230 requests for assistance from seniors were not met.

Through the senior millage, your investment supports 39 different services that meet the needs of our senior population. Read more about why you should vote YES by clicking here.

Friday, July 21 marked the final day of United Idol: Internal Campaign 2006. The United Way staff had their tennis shoes in tow for a community scavenger hunt -- this was it. The grand finale. It would require a show-stopping performance to overcome the Beatles' clear advantage in the competition. And here's how it all unfolded...

United Idol 2006 Scavenger Hunt
Brought to you by your United Way paparazzi

With stars in their eyes, Benita and Fritz are ready to make their potential scavenger hunt victory a chart-topper.

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Each team was released three minutes after each other. This seemed to be too long of a wait for Tarin, who was ready to get moving on behalf of her team, the Spice Girls. The anxiety seem to exceed your typical backstage jitters...

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And they're off! The paparazzi opted to follow the Spice Girls team on their scavenger hunt adventure and found them pondering their first clue in United Way Center.

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United Way's Wall of Fame, featuring some of our community's idols, was the location of the second clue.

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Nothing would keep the Spice Girls from capturing the third clue at Rosa Parks Circle.

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The consummate idols, Tarin and Sue give it their all as they race to the fourth location. (Observant eyes will notice the admiring fan in the background... they didn't have time to stop for the autograph he requested, unfortunately.)

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Tara, Tarin and Brenda examine clue number four at River City Books.

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The Spice Girls chase team leader Sue Stoddard (VP of Finance) to the next location. It quickly became obvious who Sporty Spice is in this group...

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Location number five -- but no time to stop for an impromptu Spice Girls Reunion Tour!

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Never mind that the police station is right on the corner... Sue and Tarin ran diagonal across the street to snag the final clue at Mezze Cafe. It's amazing the kind of lawless things people will do to be famous.

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Team Spice Girls grabs the clue from Mezze and races back to United Way Center...

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Back at the ranch, Bob is grilling up a team lunch for our crew of hungry, tired idols...

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Team Spice Girls completed their hunt and finished their puzzle in amazing time... despite starting later than other teams, they enjoyed a first-place finish in the United Idol scavenger hunt.

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In the end, The Beatles team became the 2006 United Idols. With more event wins and agency donations than any other team, they won some great prizes for themselves and, most importantly, helped United Way improve lives and build a stronger community!

With $40,000 raised for our community during our internal campaign, the United Way team is ready to help 800 local companies get to work on their campaigns! The 2006 Campaign Kickoff and Day of Caring will take place on Thursday, September 7... be sure to join us as we plant hope in our community!

Left: The Name That Tune scoreboard demonstrates the day's clear winner, The Beatles.

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Day 4 of United Idol: Internal Campaign 2006 arrived with even more donations for local non-profit agencies, and staff members were looking to score some points in a game of Name That Tune.

Just as The Beatles is aguably one of the best bands ever, could we dare to say that The Beatles campaign team is the best this year? Final scores won't be revealed until tomorrow's staff lunch, but with points available for naming both the song title and the artist, Tony Campbell led his team to another victory and racked up nearly 200 points!

The Spice Girls team worked hard to keep the game competitive. Tara attracted a few points thanks to her knowledge of has-been 1980s music. Who knew that when she's not planning events and assisting donors, she's listening to Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer?

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Right: Tarin, Tara and Karen of Team Spice Girls share the frustration of not knowing the song. If only it had been from the 1980s...

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Other teams just missed the mark with some of their answers. Some of our favorites included Benita offering Van Halen as the artist for "Brown Eyed Girl." (In case you're wondering, it's really by Van Morrison... but a Van Halen cover would be interesting, to say the least.) Absolutely no one was able to figure out "Renegade," by Styx (though this happens to be an old favorite of a certain marketing associate). And as for The Brady Bunch song... well, we definitely never expected it to be mistaken for something from The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

There's still time for other teams to pull ahead by bringing in donations and winning tomorrow's scavenger hunt. And of course the real reason for this week's activities is to encourage everyone to invest in our community through United Way. Pledge forms can still be turned in at Kami's desk!

Breaking news today, however, was the close of the MVP parking spot contest. The Jackson 5 team turned in all of their pledge forms before any other team, so they will be entitled to the MVP parking spot for one week (per team member) next year.

See? Giving hope through a United Way pledge is so easy... easy as 1-2-3, A-B-C.