LIVE UNITED Y’All!

By Mindy Hedley

When did this year’s campaign crystallize into that bright and shining moment when you felt that fire in the belly? You know the one that makes you want to keep going when you’re tired?

Keep asking when you hear no?

Keep trying new strategies when our world economy tells us this isn’t the right time?

To push harder, and stretch further instead of settling because people are burdened by their own concerns and it’s “not a good time to be asking right now”.

Have you had your moment?

For me it was when the clients of Bridgehaven presented their beautiful, three-paneled painting at our kickoff. The painting now hangs in our building and I see it every day.

It was painted by them as a gift to us for letting Bridgehaven use our building when their own was flooded. What a generous gift for such a small favor.

I was overcome with emotion at the gesture. Having known someone with the type or types of disabilities that clients at Bridgehaven face, I understand the need for having a place to meet and how vital that need is.

But still, inviting Bridgehaven to use our building seems so small and their thank you to us, so large.

I snapped a picture of some of those who helped to paint it. I know that in painting it, it gave them happiness to0.

Last night at a lecture, a physician said that recent data has begun to surface that many of the most brilliant and most famous artists of former centuries are now believed to have had some physical or mental disability and their art gave them a way to cope with their condition.

When I walk past those beautiful panels, I will remember why I will ask, and push and strech.

For those who we gave to- gave to me.

Giving giving back, thank you

It’s not too late to purchase a ticket to “Taste of Louisville” and here’s the best part-the event benefits Metro United Way!

Each year the Louisville Chapter of the Kentucky Restaurant Association sponsors Taste of Louisville to celebrate Louisville’s excellent culinary community. Taste of Louisville will feature more than 50 of the Best Food and Beverage selections Louisville has to offer!

The 36^th Annual Taste of Louisville event is scheduled for tonight, September 29^th, 2009 from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Crowne Plaza Hotel located near the Louisville International Airport. (Side note-the hotel is renovated and is absolutely gorgeous! I had my wedding reception there just are few short weeks ago!)

For more information or to purchase tickets, call Essential Details at (502) 499-6478.

See you there!

Events, General community events, Taste of Louisville

For today’s look into the Metro United Way team, I spoke to one of our talented and tireless team members in Donor Relations, Jennifer Humphreys. Watch the video the learn a little bit about her!

General Metro United Way, staff

There’s been a lot of talk about Healthcare reform recently. But did you know that it could possibly affect the tax benefits of charitable contributions?

During the next few days the Senate Finance Committee will consider amendments to America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009, the bill crafted by Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT). As many as 23 of these amendments propose a cap on charitable deductions as a way to pay for healthcare reform. Changes to the the tax benefits of charitable giving could not only negatively impact our ability to provide services to those in need, but it could also set a precendent for taking such actions in the future to further lower the cap on chartiable deductions. 

The current proposal does not include a cap on charitable deductions. You can help us keep it that way by letting Senator Jim Bunning know that you oppose any Senate Finance Committee amendments that cap the charitable deduction.

You can contact Senator Bunning at (202) 224-4343 or by visiting his site and filling out the contact form.

To learn more about the bill and the amendments the Senate Finance Committee will consider, click here.

photo credit: ANVAR-RUSSIANTEXAN

Advocacy, General advocate, America's Healthy Future Act of 2009, Giving, healthcare reform, Senator Jim Bunning

Have you ever tried to do any of the following by yourself…

• Whitewater raft
• Play a game of baseball
• Put up a tent
• Assemble a play set
• Start your own business
• Care for a young child
• Build a house

Sure, you can definitely do all of these things all alone. It might take you a while, but in most cases you could likely accomplish the task.

However, for each of these examples: what would it look like if you did it with one other person? Or perhaps with 2 or 3, or maybe more. Your ability to accomplish more increases greatly; your time and talent go much farther when put together.

Take assembling a tent. We went camping over Labor Day weekend. Let me tell you…not a big camper here. But, I was determined my family was going. Pitching a tent. Well, that could be quite an ordeal…but it wasn’t as bad as I thought when we all started to work together. This person holds this piece…another person holds that piece. It actually makes the work move along more quickly and the job gets done.

Metro United Way is a fantastic example of individuals coming together for a common goal in our community. While one voice could work to advance the common good, when we are all working together towards this we are much greater.

The agencies we work with at Metro United Way have seen their needs increase drastically in the past 12 months. 91% of agencies providing housing saw an increase in need. 87% of agencies providing food saw an increase in need –with some reporting a 40% increase in first time recipients.

Your gift to Metro United Way affects many lives in the community. Our gifts together through Metro United Way impact over 90 agencies, 160 programs, and countless lives. That’s the power of Metro United Way - the power of doing it together!

I encourage you to contribute to the campaign this year by visiting Metro United Way’s online giving page.

Flickr photo: lumaxart

Giving Community, Giving

Education, income and health. These are the building blocks Metro United Way believes are the keys to creating a sustainably strong community. We officially kicked off the 2009 Metro United Way campaign earlier this month, so you will be hearing more about these fundamental elements of Metro United Way’s philosophy of Living United. For me, Living United means strengthening the basic elements of a successful life for everyone  – access to quality education,  income and financial stability for families and access to health care information and support services to enable families to maintain a high quality of life.

Education – Metro United Way supports agencies that help families obtain access to quality, affordable childcare and early learning opportunities.  Success By 6 is a public and  private partnership committed to ensuring that every child in our community is healthy, safe, nurtured and ready to succeed by age 6.  The first six years of a child’s life shapes his or her future and the success of our community  is dependent upon our children.

Health – Metro United Way supports agencies that assist families in obtaining quality healthcare information and support services.  Agencies also help seniors and those with disabilities achieve independence and a high quality of life.

Income – Metro United way supports agencies that help families meet basic everyday needs and assists them with access to financial information and services.

In these stressed economic times is it even more important for each and every one of us to step up and contribute to the betterment of our Community.  If we were to achieve the same level of giving as last year, we would consider that a success in its own right.  But, I must say that I would not be satisfied and neither would your Metro United Way staff.  And, I want to add that you should not be satisfied either.  I say that because the demand for services are at unprecedented levels and the agencies that Metro United Way supports are seeing demand increase. These demands will not abate any time soon.  These are tough issues and the solutions are not simple, however, there are some simple things that each of us can do to show how we Live United:

Give – participate in your employer’s Metro United Way campaign.  If your employer does not have a campaign, ask “why not.”   You can contribute directly to Metro United Way by contacting them at metrounitedway.org, mailing in a donation to  P. O. Box 4488, Louisville, KY 400204-0477 or by calling at 502 583-2821.

Advocate – Get to know your Metro United Way by signing up for the monthly newsletter.   Share what you believe and show how much you care about education, income and health by letting us hear from you.

Volunteer – Share your time and talent  - it is truly needed.   Metro United Way’s volunteer  opportunities provide ways for individuals and groups to get involved.  A listing of volunteer opportunities is available at metrounitedway.org/volunteer.

Your reward for being a donor, advocate or volunteer for Metro United Way will be a sense of pride and the knowledge that you have made a difference -  in the life of one person and in the life of our community. Thank you for all the ways you Live United to make our community a better place for all of us to live.

Sincerely,

David P. Calzi
2009 Metro United Way Campaign Chair

General campaign, community campaign

By Patty Youngs

I have been scheduling volunteers to help with flood clean-up since early August and when they ask me what they will be doing, I reply with a generic answer that I have been programmed to give. And then it dawned on me…this is lame…I have no idea what it’s actually like out there…I owe it to our volunteers to find out.

To myself: “Ok, so I’ll go out this weekend, it’ll be great. BUT, I have to clean my house, I have all this yard work, oh and my nephew has a ballgame. Oh, and I really need to go to the grocery store, maybe next weekend.” Excuse after excuse. Again, this is lame.

I got it! I will publicly promise to volunteer for flood clean-up on my blog. Problem solved, now I have to go. Crap.

Saturday morning, 7:00 AM: yawn, rollover, hit snooze. Yawn, rollover, hit snooze. Yawn, rollover, hit snooze. ENOUGH ALREADY…get out of bed!!!

7:55 AM: heavily caffeinate myself and then off to pick up my faithful friend, Erin, who has agreed to go with me. (Thanks Erin!)

8:15AM: Arrive to Harvey Brown. Mary’s here…she’s volunteering today too! And, look at all of these other people. Wow! This is great.

We sign-in, we train, we depart. We arrive to the work-site. On go the gloves and the masks; reality sets in. We meet the homeowner, she looks defeated. She leads us to her basement; nothing but black and the smell…I can’t believe she’s been living with this. My eyes begin to swell…tears want to fall…tears of sadness for this woman and the many others who have lost so much…I hold them back…we should be strong for her.

The basement: black, wet, ruins. A Christmas tree that won’t see another Christmas. Winter clothes that won’t keep anyone warm this year. Photographs that are now warped…history erased. One by one, we carry out a piece of her life, a memory.

Is this job easy? No. Is it fun? Not especially. Is it life changing? Absolutely. It is life-changing to the woman who lost a basement full of memories and necessities. And it’s life-changing for the volunteers who helped her to say good-bye, let go, and move on.

There are still 200 people living in this situation and waiting for relief…people who are elderly, disabled, or all alone. They need your help. No more excuses, sign-up today.

Patty and another volunteer work together

Mary, Patty & Erin

See more pictures on Metro United Way’s Flickr photos!

Volunteering flood, flood relief

By Lincoln Crum

I first came in contact with volunteers when I was a young child on the football field. I had two coaches that volunteered their time 4-5 days a week teaching young men the fundamentals of youth football. I remember riding home one day from practice with my dad and asking him how much my coaches got paid to teach us the game. Dad kind of laughed and said, “They’re volunteers, they donate their time.”

I couldn’t get my little 10 year old mind around the concept. I was raised by a family of farmers and entrepreneurs. I had never been given the challenge of understanding what it meant to donate your time…until Coaches Phil Bates and Alvin White walked into my life. I spent three wonderful years every fall with these men, learning the basics of football. Some 30 years later I’ve come to discover that each lesson they taught me could be applied to everyday life. I see both of these men on a fairly regular basis and every time I do I make sure to thank them for the time they invested in me as a member of our community.

Progressing through the teenager years I came in contact with more and more volunteers and the concept of helping people without any hopes of monetary return on my time investment. As I became a young man I always made it a priority to find a way to give back to the community that had given so much to me.

When I was asked to write a guest blog for www.LiveUnitedYall.org I immediately started thinking about all of the different volunteers, staff, organizations and groups that come in contact with Metro United Way on a daily basis. Perusing the www.MetroUnitedWay.org website I was floored by all of the Agencies and Partners. I scrolled down the list and came across at least 10 that I’ve had an experience with, on both a personal and professional level.

The late Arthur Ashe said it best…“Success is found in the Journey, not the Destination.”

Our Metro United Way would not be able to achieve the success it has if everyone focused solely on the end result. The core element of helping one another is found in the daily routine of our lives. All of us working together, day in and day out, one foot in front of the other. The wide array of Agencies and Partnerships allow us to create a sum that is greater than its parts…thanks to the vision created and maintained by OUR Metro United Way.

- Lincoln Crum is a professional speaker, writer and 2nd generation entrepreneur based out of the Louisville, KY area.  Lincoln believes first and foremost in the power of positivity and all of the wonderful things it can do for our lives.  Contact Lincoln directly at ReachLincoln.com for information on blog posting and speaking.

Volunteering Community, journey

By Jan Sherrell

Advocate has not been a word I use in my general language. My girlfriends at Bunco don’t discuss advocacy and the best way to do it. My twenty-something kids don’t bring up advocacy at the dinner table (right, like I can get them to the dinner table).

The strongest sense of advocacy I’ve had is in health care. It has become obvious to me that when someone has a health issue and is working the maze of healthcare providers, insurance and medicine they need a strong advocate behind them. Someone to make sure every symptom and treatment is expressed and received clearly. That when something doesn’t sound right – the patient has an advocate to support or pursue their misgiving.

I heard on the radio another instance where I would be willing to advocate. They were discussing a petition started to let the cell phone carriers know that we have a problem with their service. The petition is because of that stupid 15 second message you have to listen to every time a cell phone is not answered and you are waiting to leave a message. You’ve already heard the cell phone owner’s recorded, “Please leave me a message” recording. Followed by: “At the tone please record your message. After leaving the message you can press one or hang up. To leave a call back number press 5.”

REALLY, like we need to be told how to leave a voice mail? REALLY?

This is one of life’s annoyances we just grudgingly accept. But someone has decided we shouldn’t have to lose 15 seconds of our life for each message and 15 seconds of our cell phone time. They’ve started a petition and 2 providers have responded with “we’re looking into it.” Which translated means – depends on how loud and grouchy these advocates get.

It would be really effective if I could provide you with the link to the petition. Um, I didn’t write that down. It was a comedian on Bob and Tom radio show. So maybe you can find that link and share it with the rest of us? And we all get loud and grouchy about losing 15 seconds per voice mail.

The next time you hear Metro United Way talk about advocacy – you’ll realize anyone can do it and when enough of us advocate around something we have a better chance of being heard.

Advocacy cell phone petition, health care

Today, in continuing with my series about Metro United Way’s staff and our work, we meet Vicki Jewell. Vicki works in our Finance department and is a terrific asset! But don’t take my word for it, listen to Vicki describe her work and accomplishments.

General Community, staff, work