Meet Meredith Ghrist

Hi! My name is Meredith Ghrist, and my “Live United” story has just begun. I started working with United Way of Northwest Arkansas in late July as the Manager of Special Projects. I work with both the development and community impact sides of our organization, seeking to further the vision and purpose of United Way.

I feel well prepared for the task. While living in Kenya, East Africa during my four years of high school, I saw a great deal of need for organizations that provide help in the areas of education, income, health, and basic infrastructure. I became passionate about transformational development – a movement focused on creating organizations that not only provide for those in need, but also empower them to come together as communities and be a part of that process. In college I became active in a leading a campus advocacy group called Acting on AIDS, as well as in the Honors Program. I spent my summers gaining experience in human relations and non-profit work- as a counselor at a family camp, as an intern at an excellent Kenyan HIV/AIDS help center and clinic, and as a teacher at a daycare that accommodated children with disabilities.

I received my diploma – a bachelors of science in Family and Human Services - in December 2008. A typical college graduate, I walked across the platform with many high ideals and few actual job leads.

So I began working at a local café – a place I loved for its smallness and authenticity – but bit my nails in the evening while clicking through internet job databases and online applications.

I wanted to find a place where could I apply both my experience in human services and deep desire to implement creative, practical, and empowering solutions to social issues like hunger and poverty.

I’ve been so pleased to find that United Way is that kind of place - a beautiful marriage of compassionate idealism and practical solutions. It is smart - the organization evaluates itself at each step, asking and answering important questions about how we do what we do, if it is most effective to solving the problem at hand, and if it is the most empowering to the people involved.

It is kind – not only we do we strive to advance the good of all, but my coworkers also understand the significance of their work and care deeply about it. For example, one of my coworkers received a call from a woman looking for shoes for her 13-year-old son. She easily could have been directed to another service provider – “Why don’t you try calling the Salvation Army?” – click. Instead, my coworker let the mother know that while we don’t provide direct services, she would do what she could. She got the boy’s shoe size, called Salvation Army and a church, looked into support available for the mother’s position, and called her back with names and places to get vouchers for shoes and other support.

It is local – the United Way understands the best way to help a community is by building it up as such. It seeks to provide non-profit agencies with local volunteers, connecting people from businesses and non-profits together for the common good. All money donated within a focus area, unless specifically designated, stays within the local community.

That is why I’m happy to be working with the United Way, and excited to bring my own experience and passion to work every day. One of my goals is to encourage young generations to use United Way as a uniting force behind many of the causes in which they are already involved. I aim to perform each task I am given excellently; to pursue new relationships and strengthen old ones with local agencies, companies, and individuals; to affirm a positive work environment in daily interactions with other staff; and to model being an active and compassionate community member. And that’s just the beginning of my “Live United” story.

Stuff the Bus: 2 Live United Stories

It has now been nearly three weeks since we held Stuff the Bus, and the stories seem to keep coming.

In case you don't know, Stuff the Bus is a program that United Way started four years ago in the Northwest Arkansas area. The program is designed to collect school supplies for students who might not be able to afford the right tools to start learning on day one.

This year we raised an estimated 75,000 supplies over the course of two days sitting in front of Walmart locations across the region. While many of these supplies go to the local school system for children to access, several thousand went to stuff more than 2,100 backpacks full of supplies so that kids could have all the tools they needed on day one.

In a previous post, I talked about how heartwarming it was to see kids getting backpacks. What was more heartwarming, though, were the stories of some of the people giving supplies.

During one of the Stuff the Bus collection days, one of our staff members relayed a story about how for the third year in a row, twin little girls had saved money all year just so they could buy school supplies for kids that were less fortunate. Over the course of a year they were able to save about $13, which went to buy a cartload of supplies.

Just this week, another little boy came in to our office with a large tub filled with supplies. As he was giving them to us, he said that he had a birthday party recently, and instead of presents, he asked that people bring school supplies to help our program.

When I heard both of these stories, my jaw dropped. Sure, I am social aware now, but I certainly wasn't at a very young age.

It just continues to show me what I already believed to be true, the smallest gift or the smallest voice, turn out to be some of the most powerful.

Meet Meredith Brown

My name is Meredith Brown and I have the great privilege of being the Manager of Donor Relations here at United Way of Northwest Arkansas. Many of you faithful followers may not know me because I am brand new. I have just finished up my second week. Although I was born and raised in Houston, TX, (by two native Arkansans) I have found a home away from home here in Northwest Arkansas.

I recently graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations as well as a minor in Marketing. A friend told me about the Donor Relations position and strongly encouraged me to apply. I quickly sent my resume to Amy, VP of Resource Development, and was surprised when I was invited for an interview.

I had always known about United Way but I still needed to do my research and be caught up with what was going on now. After many hours of investigating and research and notes on United Way I had an even bigger problem on my hands. I realized how much I wanted to be part of this organization. How could I express the way I felt without seeming insincere?

While I was in the elevator I said a prayer, “God, please calm my nerves, give me the strength to use my words with purpose. Let me understand that the right person will get this job, even if it is not me.” Ding!

My first interview was with Amy. My first impression of Amy…she’s a model with a big heart. The interview questions were what I expected but the conversation with Amy wasn’t. I had never been in an interview where I felt so comfortable.

I felt great after the first round, but a little sad because I just felt like something fit. I hoped it wasn’t the last time I would be there. I kept reminding myself, “The right person will get the job, even if it isn’t me. United Way needs a great person and I’ll find something else…Oh, but I really want it.”

A few days later Amy called to invite me back for a second interview with two other people. For this interview I had to do a United Way presentation. For my second interview I met Brooke and Susan. I immediately liked Brooke because she had four different highlighters, three different pens, her planner and a notebook. I love organization so I was definitely taking notes because she was on the ball. Susan sat next to me so it wouldn’t be a firing squad style at the table, so I really appreciated that. All of them made me feel comfortable and challenged. I knew they were encouraging and positive people I could work with.

A few days later, Amy called me while I was running errands and said, “Meredith, we would like to offer you the position at United Way.” It took everything in me to not scream with excitement. I couldn’t believe it.

The following day the office was having a staff retreat and I had the opportunity to participate. It was so great to meet everyone all at once. I immediately felt included.

I knew I had made the right decision when I went to my first campaign kickoff at Ozark Electric Company (OEC). Jen Boyle from Samaritan Community Center spoke to OEC’s employees about our community’s. Her words gave me goose bumps. I knew I had just joined an organization that has the power and people to inspire change.

I’m looking forward to having many stories to share with you of how I LIVE UNITED. And I encourage all of you to Give, Advocate, and Volunteer so you have your own story.

Live United Story: Arvest, Bentonville helps Stuff the Bus

This is a link to a blog post from Arvest Bank and how bank employees worked to LIVE UNITED for the Stuff the Bus program.

http://www.arvestblog.com/blog/2009/7/28/bentonville_helps__stuff_the_.aspx

Help us thank Arvest for the great work that they do for United Way of Northwest Arkansas throughout the community.

Education: Backpacks Help Relieve the Load

Working at United Way I get the opportunity to hear a lot about the need, but not all the time do I have the chance to actually see it in front of me.

Yesterday, I had that chance.

At Samaritan Community Center, United Way staff and volunteers from across the community helped to distribute more than 700 backpacks to children. Most often, these were children from families where school supplies, especially new ones, are considered a luxury. And a backpack to put them in is an even greater indulgence.

I remember the excitement that I felt when school was approaching and I got my school supply list. My mom would take me shopping and I would become overwhelmed at the choices I had – blue, purple, green spiral notebooks; black or blue pens; mechanical or sharpened pencils – but I never thought then that there were kids that didn’t have the same choices.

And while our experiences were not the same, I saw the same joy on the faces of those kids – but better. Their faces weren’t the only ones filling with joy, but their parents, volunteers and staff supporting the distribution that day were excited, too.

For me, the excitement I had was not just because I was a part of helping make their lives a little better that day. I felt joy because I knew that without these supplies, these kids wouldn’t have been enthusiastic about going back to school. Students from low-income families face increased challenges to being successful in school, and supplies should not be an additional barrier.

An interesting look at these barriers can be found at www.liveunited.org/forecaster. Multiple tools are available to see what the graduation rates are in an area or what barriers there are to for children, but the Forecaster can actually show what happens when you change certain conditions in our community.

Seeing the faces of those children reaffirms my belief that if we can reach out a hand to just one by giving them a foundation where learning starts - confidence - then we can truly make our community better.

In the faces of those families, I confirmed my belief in how important it is for us to encourage everyone to find a LIVE UNITED story.

My new LIVE UNITED story is that I was a part of making a child's load a little lighter simply by giving them a backpack.