Please visit our new  blog for news and updates: http://www.uwmercercountyblog.org. 

And thank you for your continued support!

Blasts from the past

Last night in Mercer County was pretty tense for certain areas.  Tornado sirens began blaring right before 8:00 in Hermitage and, even when that threat had passed, severe storm warnings were still up hours later.  So we were pleasantly surprised to find our poor old building, except for a few more missing shingles, virtually unscathed today.



Annual Strimbu BBQ, going on for over 20 years.



In preparation for move to a Hermitage facility, we're clearing out boxes from our hayloft/attic/2nd floor.  Some boxes have been stored here so long, their corners split as we lift them.  It would be easy to haul them directly to a waiting Dumpster. Instead, we're sifting through them for historical gems.  We found this first-year ticket to an annual event that benefits Strimbu Memorial Fund, an entity with which UWMC enjoys mutual support.

 We've found campaign reports from 1989.  Promotional United Way posters from the eighties, featuring a young Sylvester Stallone. Even a pledge card from 1956 from a Farrell cafeteria employee who donated fifty cents from each pay, back when this organization was still known as The United Fund.

We'll do our best to preserve them for future generations of UWMC staff.  

An affiliate goes the extra mile for this UW staff

UWMC utilizes social media to keep our donors, agencies, and the general public informed about fund-raising events and campaign progress.  It dawned on us this past week that, even as many of our affiliates supplement their websites and blogs with Twitter postings ("tweets"), no one in our office even had a personal Twitter account. (Yes, we know...it is hard to believe...!)

We knew that American Red Cross, one of our affiliate agencies, uses a Twitter account regularly.  When we asked their Executive Director, Scott Snyder, if he'd be willing to help us launch one, he not only agreed, but came right to our facility for a training session.  Mr. Snyder, with his boundless energy and exuberant sense of humor, spent well over an hour showing us how to set up and maintain our own account. He remained pleasant while answering our many questions, and waited patiently while we jotted things down or zipped away to grab a ringing phone. 

He did all this, for no personal or professional gain, simply because he knew someone was in need of help.  This is precisely the kind of person you want at the helm when Mercer County residents face challenges with no idea where to turn.  UWMC is extremely blessed to work with scores of agency directors just like this one.

While learning new things often equates to drudgery, spending the afternoon with Mr. Snyder was as fun as it was informative.  We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to him for his time, and to his staff for allowing us to borrow him for a few hours. 

This is what it's all about

Stoneboro panel volunteers w/Lakeview Library staff

Monday, March 7th was the final day of our annual Allocations Meetings. These are the pinnacle of our entire year, the time when non-profit agencies meet with UW volunteers who have spent weeks doing homework on these agencies.

Our budget panel volunteers pore over mountains of financial audits and IRS 990 forms until blood droplets form on their foreheads.  Then they read - and reread - every single question & response on a 29-page funding application.  Whenever possible, they also visit the agency's facility to get a feel for its operations, the people it serves, and how additional funds might enhance the quality of services.  Our volunteers put themselves through this to ensure that every contribution made to the United Way, no matter how small, will be used to help the most people.

Getting agencies and volunteers from their January orientations to their Allocations meetings in spring is not for the faint of heart.  We kick off the process with phone calls to last year's volunteers to ask if they're willing and available to serve this year. Once our panel list is updated, we put out the call for additional volunteers.

Next, we create an application that will provide an accurate picture of an organization's operations, finances, and general health. This year's app was a complete overhaul, a model based on what other UWs use with great success.  Distribution system for this rehabbed application was technology.  Technology is wonderful...when it works!  Emailing these applications to agencies was fairly smooth, with occasional hiccups in the process while transmitting huge files. But six weeks later - three days before they were due - we got plenty of last-minute help-me calls from agencies just starting their apps. Thankfully we got them all squared away before the deadline.

Our agencies received their allocations award letters this week.  This United Way awarded over $961,000 in 2011 to organizations that make life in Mercer County better for us all.

That's our reason for being.

Welcome to UWMC's Blog!

Everyone knows what United Way's mission is all about, and what each United Way achieves for the communities it serves.  And you likely know that each local UW utilizes hoards of volunteers that serve on various Committees, Panels and a Board of Directors. What you may not know: Every United Way also has a dedicated in-house staff.

United Way of Mercer County is no different. Occasionally, an intern joins us for thirty hours to satisfy a course requirement. But most days, UWMC is powered internally by four individuals - an executive director, a campaign associate, a part-time bookkeeper and an administrative assistant. These titles are somewhat merely a formality, at least at our UW.  On any given day, you might find our Executive Director on the phone, organizing an event to promote early childhood education, and ten minutes later, in the parking lot with his sleeves rolled up, helping one of us check oil or identify a sudden engine noise. The administrative assistant doubles as software support tech and webmaster, flipping through HTML books and studying online graphics-conversion tutorials to maintain our website. Likewise, our bookkeeper and campaign associate often help greet visitors and answer phones.  They won't hesitate to help pick up and deliver lunch for a thirty-person board meeting when needed. 

To work for a place where someone always has the solution you need and everyone has your back, well...we should all be so fortunate.

We created this blog so that you can follow UWMC's internal workings and campaign strides through the eyes of its tiny staff.

Enjoy!