I am sure we all remember. “To market, to market to buy…” On my trips to the local farmer’s market I find myself reciting this Mother Goose poem, thinking about what I am going to purchase – snap peas, leaf lettuce, romaine, Swiss chard, spinach, cucumbers, carrots and the list keeps growing. Once at the farmer’s market my mental list does not stop me from buying more than I planned as I often cannot resist other seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables plus the smoked fish, pork, breads and always at least one garlic bulb.
On Thursday, September 17, hundreds of corporate volunteers, campaign coordinators, nonprofit leaders and United Way board members will descend upon the Sheboygan A’s Ballpark to help kick off this year’s annual United Way campaign, and then head out into the community to tackle over 25 service projects throughout the county.
In March 2014, over three hundred people participated in a Community Conversation about Mental Health and Alcohol & Drug Abuse. Three major areas that were identified as needing more work were: access, education, and coordination. Fortified with that information, United Way of Sheboygan is launching a program in the fall to improve access to mental health services for students who are unable to obtain care. This program, which will be run through schools, is called PATH – Providing Access to Healing. It is new to Sheboygan County, but has a proven track record in other communities.
United Way is about a lot of things: creating awareness; helping people in need; helping our partner agencies; building coalitions; forging partnerships; and strengthening our collective volunteerism throughout our communities. While the face of United Way takes on many looks, it is probably safe to say United Way is really about one thing…working to change lives in a meaningful manner.
Once again the end of July signals the time for the annual Point in Time Homeless Count performed by the local agencies supported by HUD funds. Agencies such as Lakeshore CAP, the Salvation Army, Safe Harbor and others who try to supply emergency assistance to those who are homeless, or who are at risk of homelessness are required to sponsor a semi-annual physical count of the individuals or families who are living on the street in our communities.
I’m celebrating Independence Day a little differently this year. Last year, my family hosted an exchange student, Nora from Norway. We’re currently over there visiting her family and learning about her country.
About two weeks ago during a phone conversation, the caller shared with me how the child next door shared with her that today they would not be eating. The caller then told me how she proceeded to prepare a package that included a box of cereal, gallon of milk, loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter for the child to take home. A great example of neighbors helping neighbors. Unfortunately, the face of a child who is hungry is not always evident. This is one of the reasons the Sheboygan Area School District is addressing the need through its participation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program, and has partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Sheboygan County, Nourish, and the United Way of Sheboygan County, to provide free meals for area students this summer.
On Thursday, September 17, Sheboygan County will truly Live United as we bring together business leaders, campaign coordinators, corporate associates, nonprofit partners and volunteers for Day of Caring – 2015 at the Sheboygan A’s ballpark.
With the school year ending and the warm breezes of summer upon us, this is the perfect time to consider volunteering.
At United Way, we talk about collaboration a lot. For years we’ve been talking about collaboration at the agency level on how to solve some of Sheboygan County’s toughest problems. Now, for the first time, we’re talking about it at the campaign level.