LIVE UNITED Y’All!

“I’m starving!” How many times do we say this with out actually considering what it means to truly be starving? Better yet, how many times do we say this while we’re in the McDonald’s drive-thru waiting on our two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun? Don’t forget the fries, diet coke, and yes, I think I will super-size!

My point is that most of us have not experienced true hunger. Most of us have not struggled to scrape together enough money each week to feed our family. Skipped our own meal to allow enough food for our kids. Picked food out of a dumpster or crossed our fingers that the diners we’re waiting on will accidentally leave their doggie-bag behind. That is starvation; hunger. It’s real and it’s all around us. According to Dare to Care Food Bank, “Over 175,000 people in Kentuckiana struggle daily to get the food they need to be healthy.” This number takes a minute to digest (no pun intended).

The good news is that there are organizations working to change this. Today I want to talk about Dare to Care Food Bank and the great work they are doing particularly with mobile pantries.

The traditional food bank model relies on neighborhood food pantries to get food to people needing help. Dare to Care provides the partner church or other nonprofit with food and they then distribute the food to those needing emergency food assistance.

Many families and individuals, however, need help but live in neighborhoods lacking these partner pantries. They may have other issues that also prevent them from accessing a traditional pantry.

The Dare to Care Mobile Pantry is a direct service to reach those in crisis who are struggling to access the help they need. With the Mobile Pantry program, Dare to Care brings the pantry to the neighborhood. Partnering with an agency that wants to help its neighborhood but doesn’t have the ability to operate a regular pantry, Dare to Care will schedule a time when it can deliver perishable and non-perishable food for immediate distribution. Dare to Care staff stay with the delivery truck to assist with the program.

This innovative program has improved nutrition in areas of Kentuckiana where fresh produce and emergency food are otherwise inaccessible.” (This information was taken from the Dare to Care website, click here to learn more.

Since beginning my career with Metro United Way in July 2009, I have had the pleasure of volunteering at five Mobile Pantries. The experience has made me very thankful for the life that I have. Recipients line up early, sometimes before the truck arrives, with old grocery bags, laundry baskets, boxes, anything they can use to carry their food. One Tuesday in December, it must have been 20 degrees, I remember being cold in my thick winter coat, gloves, hat, and scarf. When I pulled up to the volunteer, a least a fifty people were already waiting. Many of them had small children and hardly any of them had coats. These people were willing to freeze to get a few bags of food. This is starvation.

Mobile Pantries are happening each month, click here to help or contact Mary Sullivan at mary.sullivan@metrounitedway.org.

Volunteers setting up at City View Park.

Advocacy, General, Volunteering dare to care, hunger

By Kelly Thompson

What do I know about teenagers these days? My answer is… practically nothing. I don’t have kids of my own, at least not yet, but I do know that when I was a teen I viewed the world very differently than I do today. Some teen experiences I can relate to are ever-present: the in and out clothing fads, the obsession with pizza, and the crazy hairstyles. Today’s teen may not share exactly the same clothing fads (can anyone say shoulder pads?), pizza, and hairstyles, but the parallels are clearly there.

Beyond those similarities however, today’s teen represents a free-for-all of differences: the texting, the Facebooking, Twittering, iPhones, iPods, Twilight, and oh, did I mention texting? I admit, I am pretty clueless, so, why did I invite two lovely young women to join our team as guest bloggers over the next few months? Simple, I want to know what they have to say, and maybe teach me and others about their dreams for our community and how they view their role in advancing the common good for us all. And maybe while they are here they can teach me how to text more than two words in less than five minutes.

Later this month you will meet Emily and Maddie Calzi, or as I like to call them, the Calzi Gals. They will be spending the next month or so with us here at Metro United Way volunteering their time to promote school readiness, basic needs, advocacy, and so much more. You might even catch a glimpse of them as our very own “Teen Video Reporters”, capturing the stories of community volunteers in action.

Are you ready to learn and see a different community-view from these young folks? Personally, I want to know what really engages them in community volunteering, and what their hopes and dreams are for a better world. I am sure that I will learn all that and more!

Are you a teen reading this blog? We would love to hear your thoughts on what volunteering means to you and what your hopes and dreams are for our regional community too!

Advocacy, Volunteering iPhone, iPod, Twilight

By David Caldwell

I’ve never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I always figured that if you really want to make a change in your life you should just do it – don’t wait for a “special” day to make it happen. That changed for me last year.

Since college I’ve been a non-smoker…sort of. I’ve always been that guy who might have a pack of cigarettes in his truck while he tells you he doesn’t smoke. I know how horrible the habit is for your health – I saw the black lung in science class too. I know how addictive the practice is – my dad smoked for 30 plus years. None of that ever stopped me from “kinda” smoking. I justified it to myself because I wasn’t a “real” smoker. I just smoked when I drank, or was really stressed, or it was Tuesday – you know, just a little. I was the familiar stranger in the smokers’ circle.

As the ball drops this year, I’ll be kissing my sweetheart with smoke-free breath, and celebrating 365 days without a cigarette. My goal is a lot more years of the same, but for now I’ll celebrate the first one.

So what are you resolving to do this year? If you haven’t quite decided, let me make a suggestion. Make a resolution to make a difference in the life of a child.

You could donate some books to the child care center down the street. You could volunteer to teach an art activity at your child’s school. You could find a way to be a role model for the kids across town and across the street that need a few more caring adults in their lives. You could write a check to your favorite child focused agency. You could call your legislator and tell them to make children more of a priority when they make decisions.

Think about all you’ll have to celebrate after a year of working to improve the life of a child. If you want to give, advocate, or volunteer, you can visit our website. If you want a few more ideas or some help in making your resolution a reality, let me know. Have a wonderful holiday, and ring in the New Year in a meaningful way!

Photo Credit: maxxtraffic

Advocacy, Giving, Volunteering Children, Live United, making a difference, opportunity, Volunteer

To volunteer is to freely give of your time to others, a pretty obvious concept to grasp. I find it hard to come up with an example of when that statement isn’t, at least in part, true. Even if you are volunteering because you “have-to” or if you are volunteering because you think it looks good on your resume, you can’t avoid the fact that you are sharing (for free!) your time and your talent.

Of course, most of the people I come in contact with in my role as the Volunteer Engagement Center director don’t fall into the categories of “have-tos” or “resume-builders”. The volunteers I know give of their time and talent for more reasons than I can account for in this very short blog. Some of the reasons why they are called to volunteer are related to their passion, gratefulness, good feelings they get when they are helping, and their desire to be a part of positive change. 

Hurray for them, I say. Bravo!  However, I have one beef with these benevolent beings, these angels among us: they don’t like to brag about themselves or take credit for the work they do…ever.

Oh, I can understand, it can be hard to talk about yourself, and your friends might get really annoyed when you go on and on about how wonderful you are, but you have got to get OVER it.  Saying things like: “I don’t do it for the notoriety or the attention” or “I don’t want a special acknowledgement for my efforts” are understandably noble postures, and are much more preferable to saying “I am so awesome, they ought to erect a statue in my honor”. You get the point.

All I am saying is, if you don’t brag a little or share a story or two about the time you provide as a volunteer, how are you going convince non-volunteers to volunteer? Telling stories about your volunteering can be compelling, and down right entertaining. It may be just the right motivation someone needs to get out there and start volunteering on their own.

Next time, I will be sharing some FlipVideo footage of some volunteer stories. In the meantime, here is a link to some great volunteer stories: http://www.networkforgood.org/volunteer/volunteerstories.aspx

Advocacy, General, Giving, Volunteering recruitment, stories

By Kelly Hutchinson, Donor Relationship Manager

I will admit that I love how Hank can bellow….Are you ready for some FOOTBALL? And, I am. I am ready and excited about the hiring of Coach Charlie Strong for the University of Louisville so I will attribute this seemingly football inspired United Way blog to this fact. The recent press conference introducing the new Coach won me over when he shared his heart and emotion over the joy of attaining his career dream of a head coaching position and the opportunity to lead a program. It was so easy to feel his sincerity when he spoke and now it will be even easier to pull for his success both on the field and in the community.

It continues to be an exciting time of year in NFL football also as the Indianapolis Colts and the Cincinnati Bengals continue to rack up the W’s. While these two teams are perhaps the closest we have in our region to a home NFL team, it doesn’t matter whether you are a Colts fan or on the “Who-Dey” train right now, the NFL is deserving of recognition for the longstanding partnership and support of the United Way movement. Did you know that for 35 years, thispartnership has been a shining example of the tangible good that can be leveraged into a powerful vehicle for real change in people’s lives and the community?  Check out how the NFL LIVES UNITED and see if you can find one of your team’s favorite players too!

Yes, Tis the season for football and also for giving thanks and sharing. The words THANK YOU are two of the most powerful words you can speak, share and that you can hear. Thank you for helping make our community a better place to live and work.  If you gave in your campaign at work for United Way, thank you for caring and sharing to help change the lives of those who pass by you every day. The change we strive to create at Metro United Way doesn’t happen without you. Don’t just take my word for it….take a quick look at our recent field trip. It was a LIVE UNITED thank you tour. Check it out and you will see how we surprised a few loyal donors while they were working. I think you can imagine their surprise and you can also see the strong feelings created with an in-person and heartfelt thank you.

Advocacy, Events, General, Giving, Volunteering Charlie Strong, Common good, community change, Football, Live United, Louisville, NFL, passion, thank you, United Way

My original plan for this month was to spend time with some orphaned puppies…but I didn’t plan well enough (imagine that).  I, me, Volunteer Coordinator, of all people, should know that volunteering requires some planning!  Anyhow, as a backup plan, I will tell you about my regular volunteer gig – weekly tutoring at Brooklawn Child & Family Services.  

For those of you who don’t know, Brooklawn is a residential treatment facility for girls ages 6-11 and boys ages 6-18. Many of the residents of Brooklawn suffer from behavioral and emotional disorders caused by the trauma of abuse or neglect…most times at the hands of someone close to them.  For a lot of these kiddos, Brooklawn is only one of many placements they have experienced in their short lives.  Moving from placement to placement can also mean moving from school to school.  As you can imagine, this is a difficult transition and can take weeks or even months to get acclimated.   Many crucial learning opportunities are missed during this transition time and can result in severely low reading and math skills.  This is where tutors come in. 

Tutors are needed during school in the classrooms and for the after-school tutoring program.  I go every Thursday after work and meet with my student, we’ll call him “Malcolm” to respect his privacy.  Malcolm is in 5^th grade and struggling with both math and reading.  Malcolm has trouble concentrating in school and is easily frustrated by his assignments.  Many times he will misbehave to get out of doing classwork.  Unfortunately, this only puts him further behind.  His teacher comments that Malcolm does well with one-on-one assistance, but this is nearly impossible for teachers to give when dealing with a full classroom.  So, I visit Brooklawn each week to give Malcolm that attention that he so desperately needs. 

The sessions are easy…his teacher created a packet of assignments for us to work on.  Now we are writing a Halloween story!  He is so proud of his work and wants to share his story with everyone at Brooklawn…I’m trying to get him to wait until we’re finished, but he’s too excited!  I have to admit…I’m a bit of a pushover…he’s just so darn cute!  But don’t worry, I keep him focused and make sure to complete our lessons each week. 

I have to say, this might be the most rewarding experience I have ever had volunteering.  I know that I’m making a difference; I see the results week to week.  I get to witness his excitement when he spells a word correctly without my help.  I hear him say “thank you” each time we’re finished.  I feel personally invested in his success and can’t help but be proud when he accomplishes something. 

I suppose, however, that I should offer a fair warning. Visiting Brooklawn can be difficult….emotionally.  Getting to know these kids and then imaging what they have experienced in their lives is tough.  I guess I should also tell you that I spent 3 years working at Brooklawn, so I do know more than the average volunteer.  Either way, it can be difficult.  Here’s an example…

When I first started tutoring Malcolm, he was excited to see me because he remembered me from working there. On our first visit, he said “what are you doing here, I thought you left?”  And I replied that I have a different job now, but I never completely left.  He looked confused and said, “huh, most people don’t come back here.”  Then when I came back for my second visit, he said “You’re back!  I didn’t know you’d come back!”  I said, “I told you last week that I would be back.”  He said, “yeah, but most times when people say that that they don’t really mean it.”  Heart-breaking.  I wanted to cry right there, but I held it together, smiled, and we started our lesson. 

I can honestly say to you, that Brooklawn has imprinted my heart.  I’m not sure that I will ever be able to completely leave that place.  If you are looking for a truly fulfilling volunteer opportunity, look no further!  If tutoring isn’t your thing…there are many other opportunities to get involved with the children of Brooklawn. For more information, visit their website at www.brooklawn.net or contact their volunteer department at 515-0474. 

Advocacy, Education, General, Volunteering

When I was still young, I remember that my Dad really only had one activity that he attended away from home and work, the “Casino Society.”  I thought they probably played cards, and maybe they did, but it turns out that this was more than a chance to bring all of his buddies from his old German neighborhood together.  It was a mutual benefit society, formed in the late 1800’s by immigrants who pooled their money in small, monthly amounts in order to raise money to buy insurance policies with sick benefits and death benefits for their families. Pretty smart. You might have a story like that in your family, too.

I was thrilled last Saturday to meet the men who lead The Somali-Bantu Community of Kentucky. Here we are again, another generation of new immigrants working hard to raise their families and improve their community by supporting each other. 

What was especially impressive to me was how democratic their decision making is! You may know that Somalia is in a raging civil war, pulled apart between dangerous internal clans and warlords, ideologies, and external political forces. The Bantu are a small ethnic minority among Somalis, but those who have come to Louisville are now the largest Bantu community in the United States, and they are unified. Somali-Bantus have successfully created an election process that represents each of five Bantu tribes equally. The elected representatives then choose one local President and officers to speak with authority on their behalf and participate in the national organization of Somali-Bantu associations.

As in so many other communities, it’s the act of helping that marks real leaders. On a daily basis,

people who hold full-time jobs elsewhere and must care for their own families are also collaborating, negotiating, translating, intervening, persuading, defending, and enjoying a community that shares values, vision and hopes for the future.

As neighbors, civic leaders, and social service providers let’s be heartened by new immigrants who, like so many others before, are improving lives by mobilizing the caring power of the community. When you need a community partner, I encourage you to meet the members of the Somali-Bantu Community of Kentucky.  

Advocacy, General immigrant, Somali Bantu

By: Kerri Cokeley

In an effort to help reduce America’s high school dropout rates, America’s Promise Alliance is supporting more than 100 state and local Dropout Prevention Summits across the country.

On September 25^th I attended the first Indiana Dropout Prevention Leadership Summit. I participated in this meeting with a group of education professionals and concerned citizens from Clark County, a local workgroup convened by Landon Samuels of State Farm. There were hundreds of folks in attendance at this statewide conference, including some from Floyd and Harrison Counties as well.

The luncheon keynote speaker was Bill Milliken. Bill has been a tireless advocate for disenfranchised youth and one of the foremost pioneers in the movement to connect schools with community resources to help troubled students graduate and succeed in life. In 1977, he and others developed a model organization, now known as Communities In Schools.

The Communities In Schools model believes that each child needs and deserves the “5 Basics:”

1. A one-on-one relationship with a caring adult

2. A safe place to learn and grow

3. A healthy start and a healthy future

4. A marketable skill to use upon graduation

5. A chance to give back to peers and community

Each of these “5 Basics” makes so much sense to me as I think back to my childhood and what helped me get to where I am today. When thinking about how to help the students falling through the cracks of society today, it’s hard to keep from getting overwhelmed.

Something that Bill Milliken said as he was speaking resonated with me deeply, “America doesn’t have a youth problem. America has an adult problem.” I couldn’t agree more.

This leaves me with a question for you: What are we, the adults, going to do to help make sure the young ones in our life, and in our community, have the support they need to be successful?

P.S. The Evening News did a great job of capturing the essence of the statewide event (click here to see the article.)

Advocacy, Education, General America's Promise, Education, graduation rates, State Farm

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

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