Deadline nearing to register your team for Day of Caring,
April 17
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The largest day of volunteerism in the Fort Smith Area is approaching. It's
the United Way Day of Caring, scheduled for April 17. This event provides a
way for businesses and organizations to build camaraderie and goodwill among
employees while helping the community, and you can be part of it this year
too! Deadline for registering your team is April 4. Seventy
three projects are available this year with more than 500 volunteers needed
to complete them.
It's easy to register online at
www.unitedwayfortsmith.org. On the Home
Page, click on the link to the Day of Caring projects to view what is
available and how many volunteers are needed for each project. This site is
updated throughout the day to ensure the information is correct. If a
project is listed in the Day of Caring
Coordinator's Guide and not online, then the project is full
and no longer available.
Here's how it works: Businesses,
organizations and individuals make a commitment to "step away from their desks"
to provide hands-on, volunteer labor for a variety of social service,
school and city projects. Projects include everything from painting
houses to mentoring children. It's a
win-win for everyone. Volunteers have the opportunity to
experience the joy of doing something for others and area non-profit
agencies receive invaluable volunteer assistance to complete projects that
might otherwise not get done. PLUS
- each volunteer receives an exclusively designed Day of Caring t-shirt and
an invitation to attend a Day of Caring Kick-Off breakfast and/or lunch.
There will be a 7:30 am
Kick-off breakfast in Fort Smith at the River
Park Amphitheater; a 7:30 am Kick-off breakfast at the Bearcat Restaurant in
Booneville; a 7:30 Kick-off breakfast and noon lunch in Ozark at the North
Franklin County Fair Building and recognition noon lunch at the Boys & Girls
Club of Sequoyah County in Sallisaw, OK.
If you
have questions, contact Sarah Fowler at the United Way office, 479-782-1311.
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Teams are needed for gumbo/jambalaya
cook-off
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 Are
you a good cook and have a recipe for gumbo or jambalaya that everyone raves
about? Well, get a team together and participate in Cox's Creole Cook-off Saturday, April 26,
at Fort Smith
Park off Clayton
Expressway. Proceeds from the cook-off will benefit United Way, Girl
Scout Council of Mt. Magazine Area, Westark Council Boy Scouts and Community
Services Clearinghouse.
The entry
fee covers one team and one food item entered. The cooking will begin around
8:30 am. Teams may include up to five people. All cook-off participants must
provide their own supplies and a minimum of three gallons of food product
per category entered. First, second and third place prizes will be awarded
in each category.
Teams can
enter the contest in one of four divisions:
- Corporate ($100
entry fee) is any team representing a corporation or company.
- Professional
($100 entry fee) is culinary individuals or teams of restaurateurs or
caterers.
- Civic/Non-profit
($50 entry fee) is any team representing civic or non-profit group.
- Amateur ($25
entry fee) is for any person or team who is not a culinary professional
and does not qualify in another category.
Companies are being asked to sponsor
the event with three levels of sponsorship - Hot, Medium and Mild. Each will
include tickets to the event, TV promotions and event recognition.
Tickets provide admission, access to
contestant samples and all you can eat crawfish from 4:30 - 7:30 pm. Ticket
prices are $10 adult, $5 child (12 and under) or $25 family. In
addition to sampling all the entries, a children's area will be set-up with
games and crafts.
For more
information about the cook-off, call (479) 573-2250, e-mail coxcreolecookoff@cox.com
or visit www.cox.net. Tickets are available at the United Way
office, 320 South 18th Street.
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Welcome Nicki to United
Way
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Nicki Babb began work with United Way on April 1 as Director of Community Impact Initiatives and
Marketing. This is a new position for United Way. She
will be overseeing the Impact initiatives such as Imagination Library, Stuff
the Bus, Day of Caring and other programs. Nicki will also take a portion of
Linda Kaufenberg's current duties as she helps with Marketing.
Linda will be working part-time for United Way in
the near future concentrating specifically on graphic design work and
Women's Leadership initiatives which include Power of the Purse and other
events.
Nicki has
a strong non-profit background. She served as Director of Community Services
at a domestic violence agency in Shelby County, IN. Nicki and her
husband, Murray, recently relocated to the Fort Smith area. Murray is an Executive with ABF.
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Recognizing National Volunteer Week - April 27 to May 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National
Volunteer Week is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to
seek ways to engage their community. It's about showing our communities that
we meet our challenges not as isolated individuals but with all of us
working together.
United Way
depends on volunteers in many different capacities: Board of Directors;
Loaned Executives; Campaign Cabinet, Day of Caring and Stuff the Bus
volunteers; Power of the Purse, Cornerstone, Young Leadership Group and
Women's Leadership Circle committee members; allocation panel members;
company campaign coordinators and team members and more.
"Thanks
for all your hard work and dedication to United Way and the communities we
serve," said Angela Tilley, Executive Director. "It is because of you that
we are able to positively impact lives of more than 260,000 men, women and
children in Crawford, Franklin, LeFlore, Logan, Sebastian and Sequoyah
counties."
Volunteer
appreciation coupon books will be mailed as a token of thanks. "We hope all
of our volunteers will take advantage of the discounts offered by
participating businesses," added Angela.
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Imagination LIbrary moves into Crawford and Logan counties
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 In addition to Franklin and Sebastian
counties, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is being offered to children
from birth to five years of age in Crawford and Logan counties. The program
is an initiative of United Way's
Women's Leadership Circle.
Dolly Parton began Imagination Library
in her home state of Tennessee
because she believed that income should not be a restriction for children to
have books in their homes. The popular initiative has spread to hundreds of
communities.
The program is designed to mail a new,
age-appropriate, hard-cover book each month to every child registered from
birth to age five - just as they prepare for kindergarten. Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come is
the final book each child will receive.
"Knowing how to read is the basis for
what we all do everyday," noted Angela Tilley, United Way Executive
Director. "As a community, we are setting these children on a path of
success to help prepare them for kindergarten. The key to success in school
and beyond is developing proficient reading skills. One of the most
important things a parent can do to develop these skills is to read with
their child as much as possible."
There is no cost for a child to enroll
in the program. The community can help support literacy and expose children
to books early in life by sponsoring a child. For a $30 donation, a sponsor
provides a book a month to a child for a year. A $150 donation supports a
child for the entire five years of the program. To sponsor a child, send a
check to United Way
of Fort Smith Area, P.O. Box
2300, Fort Smith, AR 72902.
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Upcoming Events
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April 19-Annual Fishing Derby- Arc for the
River
Valley is having their annual
fishing derby on Saturday, April 19 at Carol Ann
Cross
Park. All mentally and physically challenged
people are invited to participate. For more information, call 783-5529.
 May 10 - Help Us
Stamp Out Hunger - On Saturday, May 10, letter carriers
will be collecting nonperishable food donations along their routes. They
will deliver the donations to the post offices where volunteers will take
them to area food banks or pantries. It is the annual "Stamp Out Hunger"
drive conducted by the National Association of Letter Carriers - the largest
one-day food drive in the nation. Please place a food donation by your
mailbox on Saturday, May 10 before your mail is delivered. Help us help our
community. Thank you.
May 23 -Arvest Golf
Tournament -Arvest will host its 2008 United Way Golf Tournament May
23 at Eagle Crest Golf Course in
Alma. The four-person scramble will have a shotgun
start at 8:00 am. Entry fee is $400 per team which includes cart, driving
range, goodie bag and lunch. First, second and third place prizes will be
awarded. There will also be prizes for closest to the pin, longest drive and
hole-in-one. Support United Way and have fun doing it by
joining Arvest in this golf tournament. Registration deadline is May 19. If
you have any questions, would like to be a sponsor or have items you would
like to donate as prizes, call Chris at 479-573-1260 or email at craible@arvest.com.
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Campaign Ideas and incentives
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 Here
are some examples of fun events and incentives to get employees involved in
you 2008-2009 United way campaign. For fun ideas, try a remote control car
race, paper airplane toss or hallway golf. A little competition is fun and
raises money at the same time.
For
incentives, sometimes it is not possible for a company to give employees a
whole day off. Why not ask if your campaign team can offer "Sleep-in" passes
or "Leave Work Early" passes? Or you could give an extra half hour for
lunch for a week. A special parking place is usually a hit with employees
especially in the hot summertime. Or give away the CEO's parking spot for a
day or a week. Suggestion - Ask the CEO first for permission.
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