UWSC's Brian Duchon Reports from Alternative Spring Break

Greetings from Lake Charles, LA!

The final week of United Way's Alternative Spring Break is underway! Young adults from across the country have convened in Lake Charles, Louisiana to volunteer their spring breaks to help rebuild the Gulf coast after Hurricane Rita. United Way professionals such as myself and ASB veterans started off the week by going through extensive training involving; leadership skills, safety procedures, house rules and conflict management.

The following day, volunteers arrived by bus, train, car and airplane. Volunteers were given a tour of some of the most devastated areas of Southwest Louisiana to allow them see first hand the destruction and Mother Nature's power. First thing Monday morning, it was off to work.

Our day starts at 6:30 when lights go on and breakfast is served. Then groups of 7 participants load up in vans and head off to their respective job sites. My group along with two others were assigned to Ms. Lucy's house where torrential wind and rains tore off the roof and caused water damage through out the home.

Ms. Lucy is a great-grandmother who is diabetic and also in charge of raising her troubled teenage grandson. A blue tarp has served as her roof for more than two years and the result is rotten wood and mold throughout the structure. We have spent the last three days replacing the plywood on the inside and outside of the home, tearing out rotten rafters and trusses and re-roofing the home with new tar paper and shingles.

The focus of this project is to give volunteers a positive experience regarding volunteerism in general and the United Way system in particular, as well as to encourage them to remain active when they return to their own communities.

Well there are only two more days and still a lot of work left to do, so I better get going and I will keep you up to date!

Sincerely,
Brian D. Duchon

Cuyahoga Falls High Students Present Their LIVE UNITED Ideas

What an exciting morning!

More than 30 students from Cuyahoga Falls High School's Marketing/DECA program came to United Way of Summit County's offices to present their plans for helping us use the LIVE UNITED campaign to reach out to young people.

They have been working on their ideas and presentations fors several weeks. The students - juniors and seniors at the HS and each with a GPA of 3.5 or higher - were split into six groups. And each of the presentations focused on a very different and very clever idea.

Under the outstanding direction of class teacher Emily Kilgore, the students created display boards, MySpace pages, PowerPoint presentations, and videos - one of which was even posted on YouTube. Watch it here.

All of their ideas were outstanding, and we'll be utilizing most - if not all of them very soon. This was a competition, and the panel of judges - Bob Kulinski, Katie Rennard, Diontre Earl, Jackie Zavodney, Carol L'Esperence, Jessica Petersen, Janet Fashbaugh and your humble blogger - chose 'Team Six,' which consisted of (pictured at right L to R) Jeremy Tenney, Mike Baxter, Joey Mercer and Mike Riggins.

Thanks to all the students from Cuyahoga Falls High DECA program for the time and effort they put into this project. Your talent and your passion for this project shone through everything you did.

UWSC Hosts How-To Media Seminar

Things are changing in the world of marketing, media and communications. The Communications Committee of United Way of Summit County felt it would helpful to the individuals charged with promoting UWSC's Affiliated Agencies to share that knowledge.

Led by Communications Committee chair Mike Segal and local non-profit communications consultant Rebecca Wilson, the first 'Non-Profit Marketing Summit' was held today at Rubber City Radio Group's (RCRG) offices.

UWSC President Bob Kulinski led off the morning with a dialog about what our affiliated agencies need from United Way to help them 'do more of what they do, and do it better.' He also previewed the new LIVE UNITED campaign that will be rolling out across the country and here in our area.

Next, RCRG Vice President Nick Anthony's high-energy presentation - about 4 hours worth of stuff in 25 minutes - kept the 25+ attendees entertained and informed. His presentation will be available at his website here soon.

A panel of editors and assignment editors from 'traditional media outlets' were next on the agenda. Scott Shriner from Record Publishing, Marcy Pappafava from WAKR/Akron News Now, and Chris Hyser from Akron/Canton News- TV 23, shared tips on the best ways to reach them and get your news covered.

The next panel featured Ed Espositio of Rubber City Radio Group, Todd Bertsch of Triad Communications, Inc. and Scott Piepho, of Akron's Pho Pages. They preferred that we not refer to their panel as 'New Media,' but for many of us in the audience, that's what it is. Blogging, search engine optimization, and content management systems - these were some of the topics covered in this brief four-hour seminar.

UNITED WAY OF SUMMIT COUNTY HELPS FIRST BOOK PROMOTE LITERACY

United Way of Summit County has approved a $10,000 Development Fund Grant for First Book-Greater Akron to provide new books for area children through literacy programs and human service agencies.

“Many children from low-income families in the Akron area have little or no access to books. With the generous support of United Way of Summit County, First Book-Greater Akron is working to put new books into the hands of children in need,” says Chuck Bell, advisory board chair, First Book-Greater Akron.

“United Way of Summit County is pleased to support the efforts of First Book-Greater Akron to help end illiteracy in our communities,” said Lois Foster, vice president, Community Impact, United Way of Summit County.

First Book-Greater Akron is part of a national network of volunteer-led advisory boards that provide new books to children in need in communities across the country. Comprised of volunteers from all sectors of the community, First Book-Greater Akron works to promote and facilitate the distribution of new books to children through literacy programs in the Akron area.

“In order for our children to love reading and learning, they need to have access to books,” says Bell. “With this grant, more children in Akron will receive more books to take home and keep.”

Access to books is essential to reading development. More than 60 percent of low-income families have no books in their homes for children. By providing children from low-income families with books that they can take home and keep, First Book targets the only variable that correlates significantly with reading scores, the number of books in the home.

Since its founding in 2005, First Book-Greater Akron has distributed more than 10,000 books to more than 800 Akron-area children of low-income families participating in such programs as Boys and Girls Clubs, Open M, ACCESS Inc. and YMCA. For more information or to get involved with First Book-Greater Akron, please contact Chuck Bell, advisory board chair, at 330-607-6481.

United Way of Summit County improves lives by mobilizing community assets for health and human services. For more information, call 330-762-7601, visit our website at http://www.uwsummit.org/ , or write to us at United Way of Summit County, 90 N. Prospect St., P.O. Box 1260, Akron, Ohio 44309-1260.

About First Book
First Book is an international nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. In neighborhoods across the country, First Book Advisory Boards unite leaders from all sectors of the community to provide books to children in literacy programs, shelters for battered children, housing project initiatives, soup kitchens, after-school programs and other community-based efforts reaching children living at or below the poverty line. Since its inception in 1992, First Book has distributed over 45 million new books to children in need in hundreds of communities nationwide. For more information about First Book, or to make a donation to help children in need, please visit http://www.firstbook.org/.

Ohio Wins 2007 Governor's Cup

Some good news for Ohio for a change. The Governor's Cup is awarded annually by Site Selection magazine to recognize the states with the most completed or announced corporate capital projects in 2007:  

1. Ohio 399 projects 

2. Illinois 362 

3. Tennessee 293 

4. North Carolina 291

5. Texas 281 

6. New York 244 

7. Michigan 210 

8. Virginia 207 

9. Florida 203

10. Kentucky 197

Top cities
Ohio communities that ranked in the top 10 in their respective categories:
• Akron: Tied for No. 2 in the country among metro areas with populations of 200,000 to 1 million, with 29 projects on the books in 2007. That's one project fewer than winner Greensboro-High Point, N.C.
• Dayton: Tied for No. 4, with 27 projects.
• Cincinnati: No. 2 in the country among metro areas with populations of more than 1 million, with 111 projects on the books in 2007. Chicago was the runaway winner, with 236 projects.
• Wayne County: No. 3 in the country among ''micropolitans,'' with 17 projects. Micropolitans are counties with an urban core of fewer than 50,000 people. Winner in this category was the Lexington-Thomasville, N.C. area, with 30 projects.
• Findlay: No. 6 among micropolitans, with 11 projects.