In mid-July, United Way’s Board President, Tony Klockow, discussed the agency’s newly minted strategic plan in a Sheboygan Press article. Since its approval in May, our staff and volunteers have made significant progress in the four focus areas identified early in the strategic process.
Since I started at United Way of Sheboygan County two years ago, early learning has been a daily topic in the office. While United Way has been funding early learning programs for more than a decade, the need for more concentrated programming and community engagement around the topic kept coming to our attention. Early learning has not only been a hot topic here in our Sheboygan office, but among United Ways across the nation.
An opportunity is a set of circumstances that make it possible to do something. Often opportunity is a detour that allows us to experience new things. Six years ago, United Way offered me an opportunity to take a short three month detour from my recent retirement, to work for them while a staff member was out on leave. This six year detour has provided me with numerous unforeseen opportunities, for which I am thankful.
Sheboygan County residents have always shown their concern and compassion for this community by volunteering. The brand new Spirit of Sheboygan County Volunteer Awards event has been developed to honor the true spirit and heart of volunteers in our community by recognizing those that have made a significant contribution through volunteer service.
Can you punt, pass & kick? Can you run? Can you show excitement and enthusiasm without talking? Can you represent our company and our brand? If you answered yes to these questions, then we want you!!!
Focus the Volunteer Center; check. Build programming; check. Advocate for volunteerism; check check. Develop a logic model; check. Increase Volunteer Center membership; check. Fund the Volunteer Center; check. Create awareness about volunteer opportunities; check check check.
Fall is the season that many associate with United Way as the majority of our workplace campaigns are run around this time. And since we kicked off our campaign on September 17, it probably feels to many like we should be wrapping up just about now!
Every nonprofit relies on the skills, talents and resources of the people who volunteer to serve on its Board of Directors. But what does being a board member really mean and what are your responsibilities? What is your level of understanding about nonprofit governance and structure? To help answer these and other questions, United Way of Sheboygan County Volunteer Center and Kohler Company are teaming up to bring valuable, capacity-building training to the nonprofit community on November 12.
Last week, on Tuesday, October 20, Kohler Hospitality & Sargento foods sponsored the fourth annual Harvest for the Hungry fundraiser in the big tent at the Shops at Wood Lake. Delicious meal items were prepared by the Kitchens of Kohler: Whistling Straits, The American Club Banquet Kitchen, The Immigrant Restaurant, The Horse & Plow, Cucina, The Wisconsin Room, Blackwolf Run Restaurant, Woodlake Market and The American Club Bakery & Pastry Kitchen. Additional sponsors included: Reinhart Foods, Testa Produce, BakeMark, Dominion Valley, Midwest Imports, Pepsi, D’artagan, AJ Produce, Fortune Fish, The Garden, Torke Coffee, Boelter, Wolf’s Linen and Cintas. We wish to thank all of these generous sponsors and also thank all of the Kohler Hospitality managers that helped plan and organize the event, as well as all of the Kohler associates who volunteered for the event.
United Way recently issued an update to the 2010 Food for Tomorrow Report. This 2015 report includes information gathered during a survey conducted with food pantry consumers, county-wide secondary data related to food security and some recommendations on improving certain aspects of the community food system in Sheboygan County.