Living United

It was One Fine Day

Monday may have been hot and humid, but the participants in One Fine Day for the United Way, a day at Keswick Hall, Club & Estate, had “a total blast” as one person posted on Twitter later. Silver sponsors StellarOne Bank and Volvo of Charlottesville helped make the day possible, and the stellar staff of Keswick and the United Way made sure things ran smoothly.

The day started with a live broadcast of WINA’s “Morning News with Rick & Jane” from the patio at Keswick Club. Later, Rick played golf in the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic, in which golfers were able to be refreshed by beer tastings at the four par 3 holes.

Jane enjoyed “An Afternoon at the Estate,” where participants enjoyed resort activities like croquet and archery, tours of the grounds, wine tasting and flower arranging. One person described it as “a mini vacation”. Next year, we will tweak the offerings to hopefully include a cooking class and kitchen garden tour. The wine tasting was a big hit, taking place in the Hall's new wine cellar, so we will be sure that again.

At the end of the day, everyone came together in the ballroom for a wonderful summer buffet sponsored by BB&T. Brad Ramsey, general manager of the Charlottesville Newsplex, held a lively mini auction and then drew the winning raffle tickets for an amazing assortment of goods and services. Many thanks to the United Way’s exceptional special projects volunteer Margo Szeliga for assembling our sponsors and soliciting donations for the raffle and auction.

Congratulations to the winning golf team of Tom Barnes, John Echols, Jud Foster and Kevin Leibl, who received the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic perpetual trophy.

It truly was One Fine Day!

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

 

Preparing for Two Fine Days!

We have been in full preparation mode this week getting ready for One Fine Day for the United Way on Monday, July 25 - a Day at Keswick Hall, Club and Estate. Golfers are looking forward to the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic, which includes specialty beer tasting at four of the holes this year, and non-golfers will be enjoying resort activities normally only available to guests of Keswick Hall or members of Keswick Club.

We have been creating signs for our holes sponsors and posters thanking our sponsors and raffle donors, doing last minute team registrations, and so on to make sure the days runs smoothly. We are relieved that the weather report for Monday does not include such oppressive heat as we have today.

In the meantime, our staff continues to help the people walking in the door or calling on the phone seeking help or referrals to local agencies. They will be glad when the boxes, posters, coolers and cases of water and soda are out of the way after the golf tournament.

We will have photographers roaming around on Monday, so we'll be posting photos to make you wish you were there - and to make plans to join us next year. Our friends and event sponsor at NewsRadio 1070 AM WINA, will be broadcasting live from the patios at Keswick Club on Monday morning, so tune in between 6 am to 10am and listen to Morning News with Rick & Jane.

But there is another day that we are preparing for - one that takes about nine months to organize - the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring on September 21. Our Volunteer Center director, Jessica Snyder, disappears into her office each morning to field phone calls and emails from nonprofits and schools with questions about registering their projects, or from businesses wanting to register volunteer teams. We have a new and improved system for registrations this year, but like anything unfamiliar, some folks need some help with the process.

We are in the final push for project registration for nonprofits and school - every year they seem to wait until the last minute to register, causing Jessica to lose a lot of sleep wondering if there will be enough projects for the 2,500 expected volunteers. Last week, we recorded a PSA with our friend Joe Thomas, host of The Joe Thomas in the Morning show on WCHV, 1260 AM and 107.5 FM, where we have a weekly 8:30 Thursday morning guest spot.

 

United way doc psa

 There is still time to sign up for the United Way Day of Caring - just check the link in our sidebar.

 

Posted by Kim connolly

 

You Deserve to Have One Fine Day

We are so fortunate to have great relationships with all the media outlets in Charlottesville. Recently, our good friends at WINA, sponsors of our One Fine Day for the United Way, a Day at Keswick Hall, Club & Estate, recorded the following public service announcement for us.

 

United Way Golf Classic PSA

 

And, our friends at Charlottesville Newsplex and Comcast Spotlight collaborated to created this terrific television spot.

 

Plus, event sponsor The Daily Progress is running this ad on Sundays for us.

Hurry up and sign up for your spot on the golf course or a relaxing day at the estate. We have sold out the golf tournament the last couple of years. Call Caroline Emerson at 434-972-1701.

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

 

Car Dealers Join the Force for Good

Back in April, the UVa Community Credit Union once again brought together local car dealers to offer Car Wars to the public. Not only did car shoppers get great deal on great vehicles, but the entire event also benefitted United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area.

Yesterday, after all the numbers had been crunched, and everyone had the same day and time open on their calendars, representatives from UVA Community Credit Union, Jim Price Auto, Battlefield Ford, Colonial Auto Group and Brown Automotive came together to present a check for $3,500 to Caroline Emerson, Vice President and Campaign Director of the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area. Local children, families, seniors and those with disabilities will benefit from the programs these funds will help.

Thank you!

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

A quiet work week…or is it?

It seems that many folks have taken advantage of a Monday holiday to take this week off. Our phone is pretty quiet, and our staff has far less than the usual number of meetings scheduled.

 However…

 Our staff is simply digging in to prepare for:

• Our annual financial audit with the good folks at the Hantzmon Wiebel accounting firm
• One Fine Day for the United Way on July 25th
• The creation of our annual report, and
• The 20^th anniversary of United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring on September 21^st. Jessica Snyder’s phone is the busiest as she fields several phone inquiries a day from nonprofits wanting to register a Day of Caring project or businesses wanting to register a team.

 A summer slowdown? Only on the surface.

 

Posted by Kim Connolly