BCUW Newsletter

Your Making an Impact staff:

Adam Hardy - Editor

“Making an Impact” - Your Newsletter for the Brown County United Way is emailed to friends of the BCUW. If you have comments or story ideas, please contact the editor at 920-432-3393 ext. 8648

Founded in 1925, the Brown County United Way is the single largest fund raising organization in Brown County. As a private, nonprofit corporation, the BCUW raises funds through its annual workplace campaign, corporate sponsorship, foundations, grants, and major gifts.

With the help of more than 100 community volunteers, the Brown County United Way is dedicated to finding solutions to the community's most pressing human services issues.

"One Book, One Community," a reading initiative that brings Brown County residents together by reading and discussing the same book, has concluded its first communitywide book read.

The first book, Of Beetles and Angels-a Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard" by Mawi Asgedom (Little, Brown and Company, 2001), was well-read across the community, according to group officials.

"We've been really thrilled with the response to 'One Book, One Community," said Jaime Leick, the

organizing team's chairperson,

The next book for the community read program will be Night by Ellie Wiesel. It is a bitter account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness of the death of his family...the death of his innocence...and the death of his God. Penetrating and powerful, as personal as The Diary Of Anne Frank, Night awakens the shocking memory of evil at its absolute and carries with it the unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again.

Organizers of the One Book, One Community program include the YWCA of Green Bay-De Pere, Moving Type, the Brown County Library, Green Bay Area Public Schools, the Multicultural Center, UW-Green Bay, The Reader's Loft, Butterfly Books, the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, The Volunteer Center, The Literacy Council of Brown County, and Brown County United Way.

For more information regarding the program by going to the "One Book, One Community" web site, www.browncountyreads.org.

"The Volunteer Guide to the Spirit of Giving," a guidebook to hundreds of projects for families, businesses and individuals, is available by contacting the Volunteer Center of Brown County.

This resource lists a variety of ways people can volunteer their time, skills and energy.

To get your copy, call the Volunteer Center of Brown County at 429-9445, or 1-800-VOLUNTEER. You can also access the Volunteer Guide by going to the Center's web site: www.volunteergb.org.

The Brown County United Way staff extend their heartfelt thanks to the hard work and unswerving dedication of this year’s six Loaned Executives. The United Way would also like thank the corporations that sponsored them.

Special thanks to:

Pat Hermsen - WPS Resources Corp

Rebecca Chapa - Schneider National

Patty Mancuso - Associated Bank

Mark Rahmlow - Schreiber Foods

Janice Nielsen - Humana

Susie Weekes - St. Vincent Hospital

Overview:

2006 campaign goal: $3.25 million

Total campaign dollars raised so far: $2.8 million

Progress toward goal: 86%

Campaign Superstars:

(Companies that exceeded last year by more than $10,000)

ShopKo Stores, Inc

Prevea

Schneider National

Schreiber Foods

Campaign Heavyweights:

(Companies that exceeded last year by between $1,000 and $9,999)

Aon Risk Services

APAC Customer Services, Inc.

ASPIRO

Associated Bank

Bay Engineered Castings / C.A. Lawton

Bay Lake Bank

Bellin Health

Wisconsin Lift Truck

Younkers Distribution Center

These totals are being updated every day as businesses conclude their campaigns and total are entered into our database. These figures represent projections only, as many of the donations from workplace campaigns are paid through payroll deductions, which are disbursed throughout the year.

The Brown County United Way thanks all businesses who host a workplace campaign. If you would like to run a United Way campaign in your workplace, it is not too late! Contact Alicia Van Straten, campaign manager, at 432-3393 ext. 8644, or alicia@browncountyunitedway.org.

Or if you would like to give individually, you can make a donation by clicking the GIVE box above or calling 432-3393. Thanks for caring!

Besiada Health Innovators

Brown County Human Services

Camera Corner / Connecting Point

Campbell Wrapper

Catholic Charities

Cummins NPower

Eastbay

Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer and Associates

Green Bay Packaging

Hurckman Mechanical

Johnson Bank

LDI Composites

Liebmann, Conway, Olenjniczak & Jerry, S.C.

M&I Bank

NWTC

Omnova Solutions, Inc.

Pomp's Tire Service

St. Mary's

Schenck Business Solutions

STS Consultants

TJ Maxx

Tweet/Garot Mechanical

United Parcel Service

Wells Fargo Bank

campaigns as our primary source of charitable gifts," said Alicia Van Straten, campaign manager. "United Way is a community organization, and giving has to expand outside the workplace. Keeping Brown County strong has to be a communitywide effort."

How you can help

"Probably the most important thing someone can do is inspire someone else to take part in their community and give," said Vicki Cornell, development manager. "Whether it's giving a donation - even just a small one - or volunteering time, it makes a huge impact."

People in our community can give in three easy ways:

• Simply by click the GIVE box in this newsletter, or by clicking the same box on any page of the BCUW website at www.browncountyunitedway.org

• Give at the Customer Service counter at any of the three Festival Foods locations in Brown County.

• Mail your donation by cash or check to:

Brown County United Way

1825 Riverside Dr.

P.O. Box 1593

Green Bay, WI 54305-1593

Last year, programs funded by the Brown County United Way helped more than 85,000 people. This year, projections show the 2006-07 workplace campaign will raise roughly $2.9 million. This is $350,000 short of the campaign goal, and $200,000 shy of last year's campaign total.

If these projections hold true, more than 5,000 people in Brown County won't receive services in 2007. This will mean:

• area elderly without access to transportation and social time,

• mothers with no escape from abusive relationships,

• children with no access dental treatment,

• fathers who can't pay their heating bills and

• grandchildren that will make the wrong choices about school

The downtick in campaign donations is part of an ongoing trend that, according to Community Impact Director Stephanie Foley, will cause a steady decline in the life quality of Brown County residents.

"If this trend continues, in five years we'll see a very different Green Bay; one that looks much more like urban Milwaukee or Chicago," Foley said.

What can be done

"Part of what needs to happen is a shift away from big corporate

By Sarah Inman

More than 160 business and community leaders and human service providers came together Dec 15 for a Brown County United Way summit at UW-Green Bay. The summit was the third in an ongoing United Way series that is designed to give attendees the opportunity to network and share information on local issues of concern, and find ways to work together to make the community a better place. The December summit

developing a coordinated system of dental care for those in need. It was announced that the Oral Health Partnership will receive a one-time grant of $341,000 from the State of Wisconsin to enhance its system-building efforts.

The United Way hosts these summits every six months as a part of its efforts to help mobilize the community around human needs issues and make long-term improvements.

See the Summit in pictures