Campaign is going strong! Thank you!

We are past the mid-point for the campaign and results are very promising. Several workplaces are leading the charge not only in dollar increases, but also participation rates. A number of new companies joined the campaign this year, including Cascade Energy Inc. that raised over $10,000.

The City of Vancouver and the Clark County government initiated a friendly competition to see who raised the most money this year. At stake was the dignity of Vancouver City and Clark County leaders - City Manager Eric Holmes and County Administrator Bill Barron. The leader of the losing team, in this case Bill Barron, attended a Vancouver City Council meeting to praise the generosity of city employees and present the City Council with an award.

Intel continues to raise the bar for generosity; their employees and retirees have raised more than $4 million for this year’s campaign. It is impressive to see so many employees step up to help our community. Intel is also a founding member of the Cornerstone Partners. A special thanks to everyone at Intel for their successful campaign this year.

Bank of America has been giving to United Way for over 16 years and once again showed their support by directing their $100,000 corporate gift to the Cornerstone Partners program to cover the operating expenses for United Way. For donors like you, this means 100% of your donation goes to help our community.

 PacifiCorp employees and their families helped clean reusable materials for use in school art projects, packed 19,000 pounds of food to make up 14,000 meals, sorted reusable building materials and helped set up for a book sale which raised $45,000 for the library. By adding volunteer activities to their Community Giving Campaign, PacifiCorp made an even greater impact in the community

 The Jubitz Corporation saw their campaign increase an impressive 12% over last year with a huge growth in their participation rate. The organization has run a United Way Community Giving Campaign for years, but with new energy from their staff they achieved spectacular results. The campaign wrapped up with a donation-driven dunk tank event where Mark Gram, COO of the Jubitz Corporation definitely got wet. It was a great way to energize their campaign and a big “thank you” goes out to Mr. Gram for being such a good sport.

Thanks to all of our companies and all of our donors for your generosity!

Loyal Contributors: Bob and Marilyn Ridgley

Bob and Marilyn Ridgley epitomize what it means to be a United Way Loyal Contributor.

They have been giving to United Way of the Columbia-Willamette and United Way of Santa Fe County in New Mexico for over 50 years, starting in 1961 when Bob went to work at Stoel Rives.

Bob was an active United Way volunteer and chaired the United Way Campaign Cabinet in 1991 when he was president of NW Natural.

Both Bob and Marilyn are great advocates of the Tocqueville Society, United Way’s program for major donors. They deeply believe in the value of getting involved in volunteer organizations.

“I’ve been involved in those kinds of organizations all my life. And to me that was what made life exciting, was the ability to see changes you were making on your society,” says Bob.

Bob attended Cornell University and then Harvard Law School. Marilyn was a year behind and graduated from Cornell University with a teaching degree. Both their scholastic experiences developed their interests in volunteering and giving back to their community.

After graduation, they headed out west for Portland, Oregon where Bob worked for twenty-three years at Stoel Rives doing corporate law.

Now retired, both Bob and Marilyn continue their volunteer service and spirit of philanthropy through United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.

If you have given to United Way – any United Way – for 10 years or more then you’re a Loyal Contributor.

Sign up for special benefits here and join the ranks of our many longtime donors like the Ridgleys.

UPS Golf Tournament for United Way

In September UPS held a charity golf tournament to support United Way of the Columbia-Willamette at Tri-Mountain Golf Course in Ridgefield, WA.

Tournament organizer and Package Division Manager, Portland Division, Northwest District, Kevin Church was eager to bring some additional excitement to UPS' United Way Community Giving Campaign. With help from Brad Roos and Dominique Andrews, Kevin put together a phenomenal tournament which he hopes to make an annual event. 

The tournament featured hole and cart sponsors, over 80 players, a silent auction, and great prizes.  Some UPS regional leadership came down from Seattle to play as well including Nancy Koeper, VP/COO Director of NW District.

The image to the right features Kevin proudly presenting a $6,000 check to United Way's James Dillard, Director of Workplace Giving. The amount raised at the tournament includes funds from the silent auction, mulligan sales, putting contest, and more.

Thank you Kevin, Brad, Dominique and everyone who participated in this great UPS fundraising event for United Way. 

The Harris Group Inc. Charity Zucchini Car Races

The Portland office of Harris Group, Inc. wrapped up their employee giving campaign last Thursday, October 20^th and raised more than $8,100, exceeding their campaign goal!

Hoping to have even more fun than last year, campaign coordinator Sheila Stai decided try something new and added Zucchini Car Races to the week’s activities.

Employees were invited to design, build and decorate their own zucchini cars and bring them to race on a track specially constructed for the event. Racers competed for donated prizes in 4 categories – Fastest, Slowest, Most Creative and Most Nutritious.

United Way of the Columbia-Willamette Community Account Manager, Steven "Dream" Weaver, the voice of many professional and collegian sports teams, was there as play-by-play announcer. Employee spectators filled in as the races began and the room was full of laughter – many more vowed to build their own zucchini car next year to challenge this year’s winners. 

The Zucchini Car races was one of many fun activities planned throughout the campaign at Harris Group – employees also had a chance to take part in a silent auction, cut-throat penny competition and a chili cook-off. Thanks to the dedication of Sheila and her colleagues, participation was high and Harris Group employees got to have fun and feel good about giving back to our community. 

Thankful for Our Local Commitment to Ending Domestic Violence

Since the 1980s, October has been known as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It has become a time to honor the lives of those who have been lost due to domestic violence, celebrate those who have survived and recognize those who work in the victims’ services field.

This year’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month has brought mourning for a different kind of loss. Not a loss of life but a loss of laws around domestic violence in Topeka, Kansas. This month, the Topeka mayor and city council voted to repeal the city’s ordinance against domestic violence, primarily due to money squabbles. They made this move as a counter to the decision by county officials last month to stop prosecuting misdemeanors, including domestic violence, when the crime occurred within Topeka city limits: http://bit.ly/nRf4V2.

“Suspects in Topeka domestic violence cases are leaving jail without being charged, and advocates for abuse survivors say victims are growing more scared amid a public squabble over who should pay to prosecute the crimes.” - Associated Press

This decision creates a scary situation for survivors of domestic violence who are watching the perpetrators of abuse against them walk free. It is challenging for survivors to find the courage and trust to engage the criminal justice system in the first place. As a result, many survivors in Topeka may never trust the justice system or their local community to assist them in their safety.

While supporting domestic violence survivors does not seem to be a priority at the moment in Kansas, the increased awareness around our own region’s need to improve our response to and prevention of domestic violence is heartening. Despite the financial troubles facing the Portland-Vancouver metro region, our community has demonstrated that domestic violence is a top concern and United Way of the Columbia Willamette is working diligently with the community to address it. We have been working on a  new Domestic Violence Initiative designed to foster increased sector collaboration, improve violence prevention education and get the word out about ending domestic violence through public awareness campaigns.

Our community recognizes that when cuts need to be made, they should not be done so at the cost of the most vulnerable members of our community. Domestic violence survivors are often extremely isolated from their friends, family and other social supports. Our community is willing to rally around domestic violence survivors instead of isolating them further.

I applaud our region’s continued efforts to increase attention to the pandemic issue of domestic violence. Together we can ensure that the survivors in our community never have to watch the abuser be freed to abuse again due to bad budgetary decisions.

Join us to support survivors and work to end the abuse before it starts.  For more information on our efforts please go to our website at http://www.unitedway-pdx.org/domesticviolence

Sarah McDowell
Community Investment Manager, Health and Wellness
United Way of the Columbia-Willamette

Jacobs Engineering Living United

Jacobs Engineering just kicked off their United Way Community Giving Campaign with a staff volunteer service day organized by United Way. The group from Jacobs was matched up with a service project at Oregon Food Bank. Thanks for LIVING UNITED Jacobs Engineering!

(L to R): Michael Braschayko, Jack Sabin and Operations Manager Gil Hulden

(L to R): front row - Jeanne Brown, Kathy Scheel, Carolina Conway, Holly Gerloff, Molly Schultz
back row - Gil Hulden, John Hungate, Jack Sabin, Matt Schultz, Michael Braschayko

Pacific Power Tees Off their Giving Campaign

The Pacific Power first annual United Way Golf Tournament on September 16th at Chehalem Glenn  Golf Course in Newberg was executed with great success! The tournament hosted 112 players and over 25 sponsors to raise money for United Way. 

Pacific Power is also a member of United Way's Cornerstone Partners which means they are one of the 17 local companies who have chosen to designate their corporate gifts to the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, to help underwrite operating costs. Because of their support, 100% of contributions received will be invested in local programs to help people in need.

Teams had the pleasure of playing one of the most challenging courses in the Northwest, while supporting long lasting change in our community through United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.

All proceeds went to United Way’s Community Impact Fund, creating opportunities for a better life for all in our four-county Portland/Vancouver metro area by focusing on improving education, income and health, the building block for a good quality of life.

In addition to contributions from sponsors and participants’ green fees, money was also raised through the sale of Mulligans and Hole-in-One chances. Golfers and volunteers convened for a BBQ lunch after the tournament where awards were announced and door prizes given to a few lucky winners. All in all, the fundraiser was a great success and a lot of fun for those involved. 

Pacific Power Golf Committee

The tournament was organized by Pacific Power’s Golf Committee, chaired by John Aniello and Francine Sullivan. In addition to putting on this terrific event, Pacificorp and Pacific Power run an outstanding United Way Community Giving Campaign and participate in corporate volunteer projects. 

A big thank you to Pacific Power employees for their generous support!

Check out more photos from the tournament

Update: 
Pacific Power created these great photo collages from the tournament, check them out! Clicking on them will bring them up bigger for better viewing.