Welcome to November! Goodness, where has time gone? Here at the United Way of Sheboygan County time has been flying. The Volunteer Center has been making some big strides and some big changes that the community needs to be aware of because a few of the changes involve our contact information.
Over 1,400 people enjoyed fine dining under the big tent on Tuesday, October 21st at the 3rd annual Harvest for the Hungry event, sponsored by Kohler Co. Hospitality & Real Estate Group and Sargento Foods. The food offerings were prepared by the restaurants of Kohler: American Club, Horse and Plow, Cucina, Woodlake Market, Blackwolf Run, The Immigrant Restaurant, The Wisconsin Room, Whistling Straits and Riverbend. Joining these restaurants as sponsoring organizations were Kitchens of Kohler, Destination Kohler, Dominion Valley Farm LLC, Torke Coffee, Bake Mark, Lakeside Pepsi and Valley Bakers.
When many think of the programs and services supported by United Way, they think of those in poverty. And while many individuals and families living in poverty are benefitted by United Way-supported programs, a much larger population is served as well: the working poor.
Fall is my favorite season in Wisconsin. Autumn smells, changing leaves and crisp temperatures are just some of the reasons I love fall. But the number one reason? The food!
United Way of Sheboygan County occasionally reviews the local social support environment, to determine whether our work is best fulfilling the needs of the community. As part of our current review, we have released a Request for Information (RFI) for the purpose of obtaining information. This RFI is simply for the purpose of assessing the services available to help United Way aid Sheboygan County, and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP). Information about the specific topics of interest are provided below.
We all like to share our stories. Stories about our children, our grandchildren, our job, our retirement, our trips and our lives. We share our trials and tribulations about our health, whether it be our aches and pains, our high blood pressure, struggles with weight, our recent surgery or treatment for cancer. When we talk about our health we describe it as, “I have high blood pressure. I have cancer. I have diabetes.”
Benjamin Franklin was onto something when he wrote the words, “Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves.” Within each of us is this innate desire to do something good for someone else. Whether it is helping mom or dad with yard work or volunteering with an organization, we each walk away (perhaps exhausted!) with a feeling of elation that we did something good for someone else. It feeds the soul; it feeds the heart; it feeds the mind and this feeling of happiness and satisfaction ripples out to those in and around our lives.
A total of 31,518 meals were served by over 120 individual volunteers during the fifth year of the Summer Meal Program. During the summer of 2014 this meal program was administered by the Sheboygan Area School District in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Sheboygan County, Nourish and the United Way of Sheboygan County. New to the meal program this past summer was serving breakfast in addition to lunch. During the first six weeks of the program, an average of 533 children a day came to one of the six meal sites for breakfast and just over 750 children a day ate lunch at one of the sites.
Tis the season! Although I’m sure we’ll start hearing holiday tunes in stores sooner than we’d like, that’s not the season I’m writing about. It’s United Way season!
Interning as an Administrative Professional while being able to use my Graphic Design Degree at United Way of Sheboygan County was only one of the awesome benefits I have received this summer. It also opened my eyes to how many beneficial programs and non-profit organizations are available to the residents of Sheboygan County. I am a full supporter of many of the missions of the programs United Way supports.