United Way of Summit County elects new Directors and Officers. Read about these exceptional leaders here: http://ow.ly/1ED57

United Way of Summit County Elects New Directors/Officers

United Way of Summit County’s Board of Directors recently elected 14 men and women to 3-year terms to the Board, and elected its officers for 2010-11 as well.

Elected to terms expiring at the United Way of Summit County’s Annual Meeting in 2013 are: Dr. Sandy Auburn; Theresa Carter, OMNOVA Solutions Foundation; Don Corpora, Akron General Health System; Bill Crooks, USWA, Local 7; Leigh Gerstenberger, FirstMerit Bank; Stuart Glauberman, Malco Products; Marty Hall, FirstEnergy; David James, Akron Public Schools; William Lowery, retired Annaco; Dr. Edward T. Marshall, DDS; James Merklin, Bober Markey Fedorovich and Co.; Bruce Rowland, The Hagen Rowland Group; James Sneed, A. Schulman, Inc.; and Judge Annalisa Williams, Akron Municipal Court.

Elected to the Board’s executive committee are: at-large Executive Committee Members: William Lowery, retired, Annaco and James E. Merklin, Bober Markey Fedorovich and Co.; Labor Representative, William Crooks, USWA, Local 7; Nominating Committee Chair, Timothy Fitzwater, retired, National City Bank; Community Impact Division Chair, Bruce Rowland, The Hagen – Rowland Group; Community Impact Priority Fund Chair, Pamela Williams; Administration Committee Chair, Dr. Sandy K. Auburn; Strategic Planning Chair, Kathleen A. Rice, Summa Western Reserve Hospital; Public Policy Committee Chair, Brad S. Schroeder, YRC, Inc; Secretary, Margaret Williams, AT&T Ohio; Treasurer, James J. Keeslar, BCG & Company; Campaign Chair, William Feth, AESCA Electronics; Vice Chair, Theresa Carter, OMNOVA Solutions Foundation; Past Board Chair, Thomas A. Mandel, Rubber City Radio Group; and Board Chair, Philip J. Cajka, Audio-Technica U.S., Inc.

United Way of Summit County encourages everyone to LIVE UNITED. Each of us has the power to improve lives and advance the common good when we give, advocate and volunteer. For more information on how to give now, on programs and services in our community, or to volunteer, call your United Way of Summit County at (330) 762-7601, explore our website at http://www.uwsummit.org/, or visit our offices at 90 N. Prospect St., Akron, Ohio.

UWSC announces funding distributions. Read about it on our blog: http://ow.ly/1DMsC

UWSC Announces Funding Distributions

United Way of Summit County’s Board of Directors has approved total fund distributions of $9,714,174, an increase of about 1% over the total distributed in 2009.

For the past nine weeks, scores of local volunteers reviewed detailed program and financial information and provided funding recommendations for 94 programs from 46 agencies.

The $9.71 million package is a combination of investment decisions made by these volunteers and gifts specifically directed by donors:

· Unrestricted gifts: $4,439,864 of the total community investment derives from unrestricted gifts made to the community through United Way. Volunteers from across the county provide direction over the distribution of these funds. These investments support programs of United Way affiliated agencies and other community organizations.

· American Red Cross – Summit County Chapter: $1,001,146 is committed to the Red Cross through a contractual relationship that guarantees a percentage of the campaign total.

· Out of system gifts: $1,880,153 was raised through the local campaign, but directed by individual donors to local and national nonprofits and other United Ways that are not associated with United Way of Summit County’s Community Impact Plan.

· Donor designations: $1,192,046 is designated by donors to specific United Way of Summit County affiliated agencies and Impact Areas.

· United Way Community Services: $893,465 is utilized to provide direct services to the public, including planning for community needs; capacity building for community organizations; programs of The Volunteer Center including Day of Acton and Brown Bag Seminars; Labor Liaison and union counselor training; Neighborhood Leadership Training Institute, and Project Blueprint, our Minority leadership development program.

· Community Support and Response Funding: $307,500 is committed for new program development and special initiative funding including direct funding for hospital assistance, Born Learning program and Youth Initiative funding.

In addition to campaign results, United Way of Summit County’s yearly income includes sponsorship contributions, investment returns and fees for services.

Of note is $21,164 that has been set aside for services to be provided in the Twinsburg Heights community. Funding may be made available to qualified non-profit organizations seeking to re-institute programs that had been managed by the Salvation Army of Summit County at the Western Reserve Outreach Center – including emergency assistance, youth development and adult socialization. For more information, contact Lois Foster, United Way of Summit County Vice President – Community Impact, at 330-643-5509.

United Way of Summit County encourages everyone to LIVE UNITED. Each of us has the power to improve lives and advance the common good when we give, advocate and volunteer. For more information on how to give now, on programs and services in our community, or to volunteer, call your United Way of Summit County at (330) 762-7601, explore our website at www.uwsummit.org, or visit our offices at 90 N. Prospect St., Akron, Ohio.

Volunteer Celebration

United Way of Summit County Volunteer Center, in conjunction with National Volunteer Week, celebrated the spirit of volunteerism at its ninth annual Volunteer Celebration on Thursday, April 22, 2010 at St. Joseph Family Center, 610 W. Exchange Street, Akron. This year’s theme was Volunteers…United We Serve.

This event celebrated outstanding volunteer efforts of individuals and groups in our community.

As part of the Volunteer Celebration, four “Volunteer Stories” of individuals or groups who have displayed extraordinary volunteer services within their organization were presented in a profile video. Anthony Codispoti, Nick Haidet, Brandon Tarzis and Patrick VanAuker, all students from Professor Gabriel Giralt’s class at the University of Akron’s School of Communication, have developed the video stories for a class project.

The four representative stories are: Noah Allooh, Battered Women’s Shelter of Summit & Medina Counties; International Institute of Akron: Donna Early, Refugee Resettlement Program and the Teachers of the English Language; Junior Women’s Civic Club; and Char Kintz, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Ohio Buckeye Chapter.

Carolyn Lake, chair of the Volunteer Celebration Committee, said, "Over the history of this event, we’ve had the pleasure of learning about some of our community’s ‘hidden heroes.’ There are so many people who are quietly making a difference through their volunteer work. We’re pleased that the Volunteer Celebration shines the spotlight on them.”

Bob Kulinski, United Way of Summit County president, said, “One of our strategic imperatives is to champion and increase voluntarism in Summit County. This celebration recognizes these scores of volunteers who’ve been brought to our attention, and honors the all of the thousands of volunteers in our community whose efforts make life better for each of us. We appreciate, respect, and cherish the work of every volunteer in Summit County.”

United Way of Summit County encourages everyone to LIVE UNITED. Each of us has the power to improve lives and advance the common good when we give, advocate and volunteer. For more information on how to give now, on programs and services in our community, or to volunteer, call your United Way of Summit County at (330) 762-7601, explore our website at http://www.uwsummit.org/, or visit our offices at 90 N. Prospect St., Akron, Ohio.

Dave Brennan and Terry Gordon were guests on Ray Horner's WAKR show this morning. Listen to their inspiring remarks: http://ow.ly/1Bhcv

UWSC's Annual Meeting today. Hope you're there to honor Dave Brennan & Terry Gordon and thank all our great companies for LIVING UNITED.

Wishing everyone a Happy National Volunteer Week. Thanks for all the ways you make our community a better place for all to LIVE UNITED!

What does LIVE UNITED mean to you? In the UW world, we want it to inspire a social movement. Does it, or is it just another ad campaign?

It's good to be busy, but with the NE Ohio UW meeting Thursday, the YouToo Seminar on Friday & Annual Meeting next week, I'm beyond busy.

7 UW agencies offer info & support to 5,000+ people and their familes dealing with life-changing, chronic health conditions, thanks to you.

is writing the scripts for UWSC's 4/20 Annual Meeting. Hope you can join us to celebrate our campaign and honor Dave Brennan & Terry Gordon.

United Way of Summit County Announces Campaign Results

United Way of Summit County announced the final results of the 2009 United Way/Red Cross Fundraising Campaign in Summit County.

Final total for the 2009 campaign is $10,955,000, just under 97% of the campaign goal of $11,300,000.

United Way of Summit County President Bob Kulinski said, “While our 2009 – 2010 United Way/Red Cross campaign raised just under $11 million, three percent less than we raised last year, our community should feel good and take great pride in stepping up to sacrificial giving to help families and individuals of all ages in Summit County. Thanks to the incredibly hard work of our volunteers and staff our results were better than national and state averages, and we didn’t leave anything on the table at the conclusion of our campaign.

“As a result of generous community support, increased operating efficiency and improved investment income,” he continued, “we will have available for allocation to programs at our affiliated agencies a little more than ninety-eight percent of current funding levels. We are grateful to our 2009 Campaign Chair Bill Lowery, all our donors, volunteers and staff who made this achievement possible.”

United Way of Summit County encourages everyone to LIVE UNITED. Each of us has the power to improve lives and advance the common good when we give, advocate and volunteer. For more information on how to give now, on programs and services in our community, or to volunteer, call your United Way of Summit County at (330) 762-7601, explore our website at http://www.uwsummit.org/, or visit our offices at 90 N. Prospect St., Akron, Ohio.