2-1-1 Faces Possible Shut Down

I was sad to learn yesterday that the 2-1-1 phone service might be on the verge of shutting down due to lack of state funding.

It was even harder news because just last week we heard that both the Arkansas House and Senate passed legislation approving a $1.9 million subsidy for the information and referral service. Apparently, when the act went to appropriations, the funding for the program was cut leaving 2-1-1 on the verge of a possible shut down in just three weeks.

The first two years of the service has been funded through private foundations and grants from United Ways in Arkansas. There has always been an understanding that funding would be required from the state in order to maintain access to the service for residents of Arkansas.

Since the service officially rolled out in May of 2008, more than 41,000 Arkansas residents have utilized the phone service.

The only hope for the service now is the Governor utilizing $1 million of his discretionary fund to keep the phone line operational until funding can be considered during the next fiscal cycle.

If the service shuts down, Arkansas will be the only state without some form of centralized health and human service information and referral line.

Learn more here at www.arkansas211.org or visit www.arkansas.gov to contact the Governor or a your local representative.

A Day to Give Back. A Day to Make a Difference.

Do you know how much your time is worth?

In a recent release by the Independent Sector, an hour of a volunteer's time is worth $20.25.

But imagine that you are the director of a non-profit serving kids after-school, and you look around the facility knowing that there is a ton of maintenance work that needs to be done in order to make it a welcoming environment for kids. In these economic times, there is no way that the non-profit can afford the labor to do those odd jobs. How much is a volunteer's time worth then?

Put simply, it's priceless.

On April 16, during our Day of Caring, more than 800 volunteers came together to help 50 agencies carry out maintenance projects, demo work, remodeling, and various other activities. Projects that the non-profits could not afford to do without the help of these volunteers coming together on this day helping make people's lives better.

What I really started to realize, especially towards the end of the day as I was wrapping up an interview with KNWA/Fox 24, was how important this day really is to the community. In a time where all non-profits are struggling to raise money, and competition for grants is increasing while grant dollars are decreasing, volunteerism becomes more and more important. When times are tough, projects that need to get done are put on hold because utilizing financial resources to help those in need is even more important.

It's important to realize that if you don't have money to give this year, your gift of time is just as valuable a resource. We hope to raise the profile of the importance of volunteerism, especially in a time where it's difficult to raise funds. It's important not to wait another year before we see this level of volunteer activity in the community. There is always something that can be done in the community. Our volunteer website is full of ongoing opportunities that are important and worthwhile.

If in one day more than 800 people can collectively give more than 3,700 hours of time and contribute the equivalent of $76,000 in community resources, can't we in Northwest Arkansas make a commitment to get engaged more often?

We know it's worth it when we see a non-profit director, who has dedicated her life to serving those in need, have tears in her eyes because work that she thought would never happen, happened because of you.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

United Way in the News

As I am sure that many of you have already seen, we informed our partner organization's about their expected allocation for the 2009/10 Community Investment cycle.

Unfortunately, that allocation is a 15% decrease in funding to all agencies.

More importantly, though, it's a decrease when people in our community need it the most. It was a tough decision to make, but one that was ultimately necessary because of the current reality faced by those in both the for and non-profit world.

But dollars are not the only resources that we need in order to change the lives of those around us.

If you find it difficult to give money right now, your investment of time is just as important. Also, if you are passionate about one or more areas of education, income or health, we want you to use your voice and tell us why. We want to work with you in creating long-term solutions for those that are most affected by the issues you care about.

United Way can be more than just a great fundraiser and allocator. We owe it to the people in the community to push ourselves to set priorities that can change lives. This can only be done in partnership with the community, including non-profits, government, faith-based groups, businesses, and individuals - like you.

We know that this news is tough, especially in an environment where we are faced with bad news relating to the economy everyday. For us this is an opportunity to embrace the call to do more, and be better stewards for our community.

We invite you to do the same. Together, united we can advance the good of all in our community.

It's our time to LIVE UNITED.

Join us and LIVE UNITED, too.

Procter & Gamble Campaign Thank-you Event

On March 5, Procter & Gamble hosted a thank-you event for volunteers, companies, and in-house coordinators that worked tirelessly during the 2009 campaign. A delicious lunch was catered by Emelia's Cafe (along with the best brownies we've tasted) and Jeff Schomburger, 2009 Campaign Chair, presented awards to companies and individuals that demonstrated the key strategies of the new LIVE UNITED movement - GIVE, ADVOCATE, and VOLUNTEER. Kimberly-Clark and Cryovac Sealed Air Corporation received the GIVE award for their increases in campaign dollars as well as employee participation. Fox 24 received the company ADVOCATE award for lending their voices to our efforts, while Carlos Briones of Cargill received the individual ADVOCATE award for sharing United Way's mission and work throughout Northwest Arkansas. Procter & Gamble was awarded VOLUNTEER company recognition and Chris Child, United Way volunteer, received the individual VOLUNTEER award. Our first LIVE UNITED award - for demonstrating excellence in all three strategies - was presented to UPS.

We had the chance to thank great friends, volunteers, Board members, and supporters while celebrating the success we had during this year's campaign. Many thanks to Procter & Gamble for coordinating and hosting this event! That's what it means to LIVE UNITED!

Hunger Down, Charity Up!!

Well, thank goodness that's over. I was really finding it difficult to muster enough energy to do much last week. I went to the gym one out of four times just because of how tough the workout was on virtually no calories. Below, I've posted my VLOG for day 6 of the challenge. It is, as it ends up, a little more about disc golf than it is my food challenge...but I wanting to incorporate the challenge into what I would be normally doing each day anyway.

I also found out that my own grandmother lives on just $10 in food stamps a month. That was an eye opener for me. So I'm also thankful to the challenge for raising my awareness about that.

Now it's time to get that canned food drive moving in full gear and I am excited about that. Here at KNWA we're really going to try to do as much good with it as we can, so look for that VLOG as well.

It's over! I have to be honest and say I didn't stay on the challenge 100%. Had a family birthday dinner Friday night to go to and several work things. However, for my cheating, I still am so aware of the challenges and can only begin to imagine what the low income families face day in and day out. I went to WM yesterday to get food for the food drive and for a dinner I'm making for an ill associate. I surely did look at the groceries differently, still checked the prices and had to stop myself from purchasing a whole cartload of groceries for the food drive. I did buy extra, more expensive items for the foodbank, knowing that these things would never be on the $25 weekly budget. I stopped myself from buying things for me with a simple, "I don't need that." Remember, we can't fix the world or even all of our county, but as said, you can't help everyone but you can help those who cross your path.

FOOD!

It's Monday and my Challenge is over. The first thing I did before I came to work was go through Chick Fil A. I was starving. I think it will take a day or so before my body acclimates to normal eating habits. The weekend was very tough. I had less to eat on Saturday and Sunday than any other days. For the first time over the weekend, I went to bed hungry. I also now know the true meaning of hunger pains-that's not a pleasant feeling. I ended up spending a little over $25, but I can truthfully say I gave it an honest effort. Although at times tempted, I never gave in to free food or drink and I never snacked to bridge the gap between meals just because the food was in sight-I still think some of my friends and co-workers tried to tempt me by bringing food into the office-ha ha. I'm not sure what the hardest aspect of the Challenge was for me. I think it was differnt on differnt days. One day it was hard not to go out to eat with friends, another day it was hard not to have a little mid-afternoon snack. It was always hard to have my choices made for me; I didn't get to choose if I went out to eat or not-it was eat the PB&J sandwich or not eat. It was hard to ration the food (and the 2 litre bottle of Coke-my one indulgence) I had. It was hard to feel so sluggish and low energy most of the time.

One thought that occured to me durring the week was what I told people about why I couldn't go out or why I was eating a sandwich at my desk. I had the option of explaining the Challenge and why I was participating. At that point everyone understood and gave me a verbal pat on the back for choosing to do it. There are thousands who don't have that option. They either have to say "I can't afford to go out to eat" or they come up with some excuse in order to keep from feeling embarrassed. There is a stigma attached to hunger.

I, too, really wanted to do this Challenge. I felt I needed not only to challenge myself, but to have an understanding for what people less fortunate than myself go through every day. As I have said before, I have been humbled by the experience and I am very thankful for the blessings in my life. I have learned a lot; about myself and about others.

I'm grateful to have had this opportunity! kbk