LIVE UNITED Y’All!

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

by Kelly Hutchinson, Donor Relations

I would like to take a moment today and congratulate all the fine people who have made the switch from analog to digital. Once again, we as Americans have survived another important milestone. It seems if we ban together we can accomplish anything!

I laughed out loud recently at this FB post made by a friend. I also quickly thought about a deeper message that entered my mind. I thought to myself, so the big day finally arrived, passed and went unnoticed. Sort of like the Y2k bug that never really reared a pesty head but the hype leading up caused such a stir.

Then, I thought a little bit more….One of the real challenges we have in our work at Metro United Way is in getting the message of our work out into our community. If you are a volunteer, donor or both then I would want to say THANK YOU as that is always a most important message. I know have along the way learned the value of lending your time, talents and treasure the United Way.

However, if you are in the pool of people who aren’t quite sure about the value of United Way, what we do, or the opportunities created, well then you need to know more.

Our goal is to advance the common good and share opportunities to give, advocate and volunteer for vital health and human services that will impact education, income and health in our community. At Metro United Way, we change the lives of those who walk by us everyday and we can change what we see in our world.

Stay with me on this… Think about it…What a difference it would make if the same dedicated messaging, and urgency -I recall for at least a year no less watching the scrolls, commercials and reminders to be ready for the impending switch from analog to digital TV- could be applied to helping our community.

Hmmm…I wonder what would happen for our neighbors, friends, and community if the same effort and level of importance this constant messaging created in citizens could be used to advance the common good and inspire people to get involved, and prepare to create some community change?

We would see progress toward bold goals and we would help make things better for all of us. Because we all win when families are financially stable, when children succeed in school and when we enjoy good health.

You too can share the good news, spread an important message and create a ground swell of awareness and support. You can also join with me in an easy, affordable way to make a big difference today by joining the Give 5 Now virtual campaign for Metro United Way. Check it out, share the message and Thanks!

Advocacy, Education, General, Giving, Health, Income advocate, Common good, community change, give, Give 5 Now, United Way, Volunteer

My mom came to visit this week from her home in Florida. She is adjusting to a new life alone and managing grief. She brought me a book that she made with lots of pictures. Pictures of her and her husband Bill who recently died. Pictures that now serve us to remember a loved one and all the good times. So, I have been thinking about pictures: How pictures can tell a story, capture a person, create a feeling when you look at them, and can inspire, motivate, provoke thought or linger.  So I promise to try to tie up these thoughts into a nice neat blog and then we can even tie a fat bow around it and call it done….get the picture?

I also used to have a picture in my old office that was a picture of a dog, riding on a shiny red tricycle that had a cat standing on one foot balancing on the dogs nose and the cat had a tiny mouse standing on its head and the mouse was juggling 5 balls. The caption read “The trick to life is to make it look easy.”  I enjoyed that picture but decided not to bring it with me when I joined Metro United Way. Frankly, I have lived long enough now to know…life isn’t really easy. It’s beautiful, surprising, challenging, but really not easy.

Shortly after joining the team here, we hosted our annual campaign silent auction fundraiser for Metro United Way.  I saw my new office picture there.  It’s a beautiful oil painting on canvas that features a lady staring off at a group of several children who are happily playing in a water fountain. One of the children has small braids all over her head with round colorful barrettes adorning all the braids. This picture titled “Urban Village” is at home on my wall.

As you know, at Metro United Way we work to create the most vital, caring community in the nation. It takes all of us doing our part to connect to friends, family, our neighbors, strangers and the world and to make sure we all have the basic things we need for a good life. That’s what Living United is all about. How do you picture Living United?  What will our local community look like for our children and grandchildren? Do you have a picture in mind of a vital, caring community? 

To our legion of 80,000 donors who give from their hearts during these challenging times to help their neighbors, co-workers, and people they may never meet: THANK YOU for partnering with Metro United Way to make a difference. If you have never gotten involved with us, then join with us now and together we can help make things better for all of us. We really do wish you were here.

Advocacy, General, Giving Community, donors, Live United, neighbors, United Way