National Volunteer Week

This week, April 19th-April 25th is "National Volunteer Week", coinciding with Earth Day which is April 22. This presents an opportunity for individuals, families, nonprofits and other businesses to give back to their community. Join United Way in thanking the people whom already volunteer, and congratulating those whom are starting today.

While United Way of the Wine Country has a large impact in our community through our initiatives and programs, we also play a large role in giving back to the community through volunteering. Within the next few months we have some volunteer opportunities in our community. By volunteering your time, even if it is only for a few hours, we can together create a difference in our community.

May 2, 2009: SPRING CLEAN

Come as an individual or join the United Way team, and help make improvements to our community. Projects start at 8am and end around noon, followed by a festival at Finley Park. Last year there were over 2,200 volunteers at this event.

http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/residents/Pages/SpringClean.aspx

May 9, 2009: HUMAN RACE

At the Human Race, United Way will have a booth where we will be publicizing Healthy Kids, 2-1-1 and United Way as a whole. We will engage the community and raise awareness about our impact in the community and our different initiatives. Volunteers are needed from

8am-10am

10am-Noon

If you would like to volunteer at the Human Race, please contact Rob Read at mailto:atrob@unitedwaywinecountry.org

Sept. 9, 2009 : DAY OF CARING

This will be the 19th annual Day of Caring event, which has been one of the largest volunteer events in Sonoma and Mendocino County. We expect over 1,000 volunteers this year, with a variety of different projects to be completed for local service agencies. In the past, volunteers have helped deliver meals, build safer playgrounds, tutor children and help restore trails and parks.

If you want to volunteer at Day of Caring, please contact Stacy Ruppert at stacy@unitedwaywinecountry.org

We've moved

A common phrase around our office was that it resembled an "airplane"; in the sense that there was a long open space in the middle with offices on either side lining the whole corridor. While the office was great, we wanted a larger space and a conference room was needed as well. Being in downtown Santa Rosa, we have a great location: we are easy to find, in the heart of the "business" area, near restaurants for meetings and surrounded by other local businesses which gives us an opportunity to gain awareness and promote our business through other companies. These were essential factors in finding a new office, and we were very lucky to find a nearby location. We literally moved four blocks, but to a much nicer and larger building. Our rent is also significantly lower than our previous location. With the extra money we are accumulating each month in savings, we can apply to our different programs and initiatives. Our landlord was very generous as well; he donated much of the improvement costs to us, once again saving us a large amount of capital spending.

We now occupy the whole fourth floor, our offices are spacious yet allow privacy, we have a separate room for our meetings and conferences and the whole layout is much more open.

Old office: 751 4th St. (w/ everything cleared out for the move)

New Office: 418 B. St, Suite 400

(although you can't see much, it is much more spacious)

2-1-1

Being a marketing major, I love advertisements, fliers, billboards - anything that grabs your attention. I love the big picture of things, and seeing the outcome once all the small detail is put together. Although I am a marketing intern, having the "intern" title I didn't think I would be helping that much is the actual creation of marketing collateral. However, I have been able to assist in creating fliers, posters and other documents to help spread and gain awareness about our events, benefits and initiatives.

One of our most recent initiatives, 2-1-1, which launched on 2/11, is a phone number to call which connects local residents with a variety of different services and resources to assist them. It is already launched in numerous other counties and states across the country, and has been deemed successful in Sonoma County in just the short time it started. Upon dialing, you will reach a very knowledgable staff whom will provide you with the resource you need. Whether it be a critical situation, such as help during a fire or flood, housing or rent assistance, support for seniors and the disabled, opportunities to donate or childcare services, 2-1-1 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

While 2-1-1 was known in other parts of the country, our United Way had to promote it and gain awareness for the residents of Sonoma County. I was lucky to assist in creating many different posters needed to help promote the launch. Using InDesign and Illustrator, I helped format different documents, choose pictures and help edit them at the end. These posters were passed out to local businesses including the Police Department and local hospital, as well as put on city buses. It was neat to see some of my work shown in the ads throughout the community, and see how I really helped out.

To date, 2-1-1 has been one of our most successful initiatives. People all over Sonoma County use it daily, and it also helps gain awareness and business to other companies and organizations. The specialist connects you with resources that you wouldn't have known otherwise, which has had a huge impact in our community, especially when the economy is down and people need more assistance that usual.

For more information on 2-1-1 or to utilize their assistance and resources, visit http://www.211wc.org/

The purpose of this blog was to share my experience so far, in terms of what I have learned, my involvement and United Way as a whole. When I first started, way back in January, I created our "pledge documents", which are used to ask for pledges from our community. They had been already been made, but we switched programs to Adobe InDesign, so I basically had to "re-create" them. I had no experience with InDesign prior to this, but had used similar Adobe programs. Once I gained familiarity, and learned all the different tools and tricks, it was fairly easy. It wasn't difficult to enter all of the information and format it, but it was tough to get everything to line up perfectly, with the same amount of space in between each box and so forth. After skimming through our "InDesign in easy steps" book, as well as fully maximizing the Help tool, I finally got it!

One of the hardest parts was typing up the same document in Spanish. It is very difficult to type up a foreign language when you don't know all of the vocabulary. I couldn't look at a line and then type it up, I had to look at each individual word before I typed it, since I didn't know what it was saying! Luckily we had another source proof-read it, so we knew it was correct.

Once I got the hang of this program, it is really easy to use. There are so many different tools to use, and ways to edit and create even the smallest detail. Luckily for me, Stacy, who is basically my "boss", knows a lot of little tricks to ease the process and help it go quicker. I continue to use InDesign, and it gets easier every time. It has been a great experience, as I am sure a lot of companies today use programs similar to it. One more skill to add to my resume!

Photo Shoot

One of the fun events I got to help with was the annual "LIVE UNITED" Photo Shoot. Throughout our community, there are numerous people and organizations that play a large role in creating a great environment as well as helping others. To show how we all "live united" and participate in society together, we capture some of our local idols, volunteers and board members supporting United Way.

Among our influential members of the community, we were fortunate enough to have Guy Fieri, our own local chef, support the message "live united". We were able to place these images around town and in our fliers and newsletters which definitely helped raise awareness about United Way.

A few months ago Levi Leipheimer, Wine Country's most famous cyclist, donated his time to help spread the word about living united, as we also got a few pictures of him. His shot was right before the Tour of California kicked off here in the Wine Country, so it was great publicity for both the TOC as well as United Way of the Wine Country.

Overall there were about 20 people that got their photos taken, all in support of living united. Whether it be the CEO of a company, a world renowned chef, a first class cyclist, a young girl wanting to break into the modeling industry, or even an intern, all of the people have a huge impact in our community. Some of the "models" this year included the president of Catholic Charities, the employees of California Human Development, the employees of Pediatric Dental Initiative and their "mascot" Chompers, our United Way staff and board members, as well as many other individuals and companies that affect our community.

Even though we had to arrive early and then help clean up at the end, it was great to see the wide variety of people supporting the "LIVE UNITED" message. It truly made me realize that everyone can have an impact, one way or another.

See more photos on how people in the Wine Country "LIVE UNITED"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uwwinecountry/sets/72157607457895475/

Me, with Rob Read (Development Officer) and Isaiah Abetya (Resource Development Intern)

From the beginning

When I first started this internship a few months back, I didn't really know what to expect. had heard about United Way and their impact not only in our community, but nationwide, yet I didn't know much about how a non profit functioned and the areas that United Way of the Wine Country focused on. Being a marketing major I was excited to gain business experience, which is a must in the search for jobs today, as well as learn new skills that would help me down the job road ahead. Upon hearing I got the internship, I was more than happy, and was ready and prepared for the next few months ahead. Having already volunteered a lot throughout my lifetime and love the joy of helping others, I was excited to be part of an organization that plays such a large role in making others' lives better.

These past few months have exceeded my expectations, and I have experienced, witnessed and learned about more than I anticipated to gain. Before I dive into the projects I have completed and what I have gained, one of the most important aspects of my internship has been the employees.

I have always been told that "If you enjoy what you do, you will never work another day in your life." This seems to hold true for the employees and volunteers here. Each employee is such an intracite part of the outcome of United Way and their success. They fully immerse themselves into each project, event, fundraiser or meeting they are a part of, and do so with passion. A non profit wouldn't be successful if people working there weren't eager to help others and thoroughly enjoyed what they are doing. Day after day they continue to impact people's lives for the betterment of our community and society. Giving up isn't something they are accustomed to, which is clearly showon and recognized. While there are minor setbacks that happen and are uncontrollable, the United Way staff always find a way to overcome these obstacles or work around them. I have been so fortunate to not only learn an immense amount about United Way, non profits in general, and key marketing tools, but I have been able to do so surrounded by a great atmosphere and work environment in which the employees strive to improve the lives of others and enjoy themselves while doing it. What more could I ask for?

United Way Interns

Hi everybody! To keep everyone updated on events, volunteer opportunities and the activity happening in your local community, as well as experience a non profit from a "behind the scenes" view, I have decided to blog about my experience so far at United Way. Me, being Kim, the marketing intern for United Way of the Wine Country.

I have been interning here since January, so the blog is a little late, but I will try my best to catch everyone up on everything that has been happening here. And let me tell you, it has been a lot! Everyone here truly does so much for their community and impacts where we live in such a positive light. All of the hard work and effort here at United Way is reflected right in our community, which is what makes this non profit so effective and amazing. Unlike other large non profits, the donated money we receive, the grants from companies and the fundraising profits are all placed back into the community through our initiatives. Our four main areas of focus are family, youth development, senior independence and resolving crises. We strive upon finding real, lasting solutions that truly play a role in making our community stronger; and we succeed through the numerous volunteers and the power of our community.

By each individual contributing a small amount, whether it be a donation, time volunteering or help fund raise for an event, by living united we can truly make an impact in our communities and provide opportunities for a better tomorrow. While it is most difficult with the downward turn of the economy, this is also the time when others in need appreciate it the most.