Living United

Santa Fund - Where’s my letter opener?

This is one of my favorite times of year…Santa Fund donations are pouring into our office and I get to process them.  It’s not like receiving a regular donation that comes with a check and a formal pledge form.  These donations come in Christmas cards, with sticky notes attached, with handwritten acknowledgments…and sometimes in a big paper sack with hundreds of coins collected by area school children.

You see, the Santa Fund is a 118 year old tradition—a partnership between The Daily Progress, WINA Radio, and the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area.  Thanksgiving comes along and the Santa Fund is kicked off with an article in the newspaper, alerting us that many of our neighbors don’t have money to buy basic necessities for their children, like clothing, coats, shoes and eyeglasses.  While programs that make Christmas a little more joyful for kids have their place, the Santa Fund is about meeting needs all year long.  Donations are divided amongst 9 counties* and distributed via vouchers to families to purchase specifically requested items.  The trouble is, this year the need is so great that many localities have already spent their entire budget in the first four months of school.  So, please, give what you can.  Every gift, whether that’s $1, $100 or $1,000, will be used to provide children with items that many of us take for granted—shoes without holes, underwear or a warm jacket.

So, back to the story I started to tell.  Many people have been giving to the Santa Fund for dozens of years, and this being my 11th year of processing donations, our repeat donors are very familiar to me.  I get a big stack of envelopes on my desk every afternoon and start to enter their information into our database one by one.  People like to donate in honor or in memory of friends and family.  Sometimes it’s in honor of pets.  It makes me sad when spouses have given every year together and then one year it’s in memory of one of them who passed.  Sometimes it’s in honor of grandchildren, and a donor’s list of kids gets longer every year and I think how blessed they must feel.  Sometimes it just includes a note of gratitude for the program and well wishes that we meet our goal.  Other times it’s the frail handwriting of an elderly person who sends their $10, and I recognize that they will probably feel the pinch on their wallet to make that contribution.  I feel honored to be the one to get to know these donors through their little sticky notes and scraps of paper that come sealed in their envelopes.  And appreciative of every single one of them.

Every year, this feels like a big Santa Fund family in our community. As far as I’m concerned, the more, the merrier!

*The Santa Fund serves the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson and Orange Counties.  Mail your donation to the Santa Fund at 806 East High Street, Charlottesville, VA  22902.

Posted by Shaele Wood.

John Casteen Supports the United Way

Last night University of Virginia president John Casteen was awarded the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award. We at the United Way have known for a long time about John Casteen’s quiet work to strengthen our community. He has served on our board of directors for a number of years, and he and his wife Betsy have hosted events for the United Way at Carr’s Hill on numerous occasions.

Last week he honored the United Way by hosting one of the first events at the newly renovated Morven Farm for some friends and supporters of the United Way. The venue only allows for a limited number of lucky guests; we met in what is currently called The Meeting Barn – nothing barn-like about it, except the openness of the space! President Casteen shared with us some of the history of Morven Farm, donated to the university by John Kluge, and made some gracious remarks about the positive impact the United Way has had on our community in our 66 year history. He noted the many ways the University’s employees have been involved in the United Way, from their enthusiastic participation in the Day of Caring, to serving on our board, and supporting such initiatives as Smart Beginnings and the Earned Income Tax Credit Coalition.

Margery Daniel, our new board chair, also shared some amazing facts on how many children now have health insurance, how many adults now have free medications for long-term illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, how many families receive child care scholarships, and how many millions of dollars the United Way saves the community each year through its outreach programs that save people money.

We then were treated to a tour of the main house at Morven Farm, built in the early 1800s and beautifully restored and decorated. It was truly a wonderful opportunity, and we thank John Casteen for his unwavering support. We all know how much he has done for the University of Virginia; how nice to see him be honored so publicly for the work he has done for our community.

Posted by Kim Connolly.

Football and Rain

Two months ago, the University of Virginia’s Department of Athletic Marketing & Promotion contacted us and offered us a large group of tickets to a home football game as part of their community outreach. We consulted the football gods and our calendars and decided on the October 24 game against Georgia Tech. We knew that GT was supposed to have a strong team this year.

We contacted our volunteers and many local small business people who always go above and beyond the call of duty for us and offered them tickets. Our staff looked forward to bringing family and friends to the game. Our campaign volunteers used ticket giveaways as incentives.

We had a lot of fun in the month preceding the game in being able to thank so many people by giving them and their families tickets to a football game. Several people told us it was going to be their first UVA football game since they could not afford to buy tickets for an entire family.

We watched the weather reports – looked like chance of rain. We told folks to bring ponchos and towels to keep their seats dry. The big day dawned – RAIN! At first there were just a few minor showers. But as soon as they kicked off, the skies opened up. Soon the stands started to empty, even though the game in the first half was pretty good. Those clad in ponchos seemed to last the longest, and some toughed it out to the end, including Kent Williamson of Paladin Media Group, pictured here with his family.

If nothing else, the game was memorable for the misery of sitting there in the pouring rain. That and watching folks create a terrific mudslide on the Hill.

Too bad watching the game did not turn out to have been as much fun as giving the tickets away to   appreciative folks. Still, we now have the story of “Remember the year UVA gave us all those football tickets…?”

So little time, but such a big impact!

It took five minutes.

Kim had written a public service announcement (PSA), and asked me to record it. I adapted it for two voices, thinking that as long as Jay James would be sitting there recording the PSA at WINA, he could read a few lines, too. He’s the professional, after all, the one with The Smooth Radio Voice.

I’d read over the script several times, trying different inflections and different speeds (the spot had to time at just under 60 seconds). On Friday, I made a copy of the script for Jay and headed over to the studios of the Charlottesville Radio Group (WINA AM1070, 97.5FM 3WV, Z95.1FM, and AM1450).

I arrived a few minutes early, so I would have time to get some water and read the script one more time. Moments after I arrived, however, Jay rushed out to greet me. What, no time for vocal exercises? No warm-up? Not even time to stretch?

Jay and I headed back to the booth. I waved at Jane Foy through the window of the studio where she and Rick Daniels were doing the “WINA Morning News with Rick and Jane” show. I love those guys!

In the booth, Jay cranked up the microphones and computer, and glanced over the lines. “Let’s do it!” he shouted, and pointed at me. “Any time, Miss Caroline Emerson from the United Way,” he said, and I blurted out the first line.

The PSA has a serious topic: we’re talking about how your support of the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area helps local people with all kinds of needs, from counseling abused children to assistance with obtaining prescription medication.

Sixty seconds later we were done and listening to it. I asked for a do-over, just to make it a little better. We recorded it again, this time a little cleaner, and that was that.

Even though the PSA was on a serious topic, as always when Jay James is involved, I had fun recording it. Take a moment to listen to it and see if we captured the spirit of giving, advocating, and volunteering for the United Way.

Thank you to Jay James for his ever-cheerful willingness to help the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area. He doesn’t just wear the shirt, he lives it!  And many thanks to the good folks at the Charlottesville Radio Group for their years of support.

Posted by Caroline Emerson.
 

Have you noticed a theme?

Perhaps, like me, you were watching The Biggest Loser last night and you saw the Blue Team contestants leave the gym and enter the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to stuff backpacks for hungry children.  Perhaps you were wondering why they spent time volunteering when they should be working hard to drop those pounds. 

Well, The Biggest Loser is just one of 90 shows on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC that are promoting volunteerism during the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s iParticipate week, October 19-25.  You’ll probably notice the PSA’s, as well as the scripted programming that will appear during your favorite shows.

What’s this all about, you might be thinking?  Volunteer rates for Americans remain around 26%, as they have for over 40 years.  That means that only 1 in 4 of us give back to our community.  Imagine, if you will, that there are no volunteers.  Nobody to mentor children, nobody to deliver meals to the homebound, nobody to fundraise for organizations, nobody to respond to your car accident or house fire.  Volunteers make an enormous contribution to our community everyday, allowing our nonprofit organizations to do more, serve more people, and impact more lives.  Now imagine if everyone gave a little time to support the programs that serve children, aging adults, animals or the environment.

You can be part of that movement. Should you feel inspired by the volunteerism you witness on TV this week, the Volunteer Center is here to help you identify how you can get involved, whether you have one hour a month or an hour a day.  Visit our website or call me at 972-1705 to learn more.

Posted by Shaele Wood.