Grant allocations announced; volunteers honored

Thirty-seven programs involving more than 150 collaborating partners will receive $4 million in awards following a six-month volunteer-driven competitive grant review process. The awards fall into two categories, three-year Community Investment grants and one-year Project Innovation grants. Click here for funded projects

In this grant cycle, United Way received 275 proposals totaling over $36 million in requests for funding. This is up significantly from the last grant cycle in 2006, when United Way received 168 proposals requesting $15.8 million. The 275 proposals submitted to United Way represent a total of 447 organizations, as the result of collaboration and partnership agreements.

“We received so many strong proposals that it was extremely hard for our volunteers and staff to make final selections,” said Howard Klink, Vice President of Community Investment. “There is no question that the needs in our community far outweigh available funds.”

Thanks to 60 Vision Council volunteers who gave much of their time to lead the proposal review process. They brought with them a wealth of experience and expertise in health and human services, and represented a broad range of professionals, local leadership and diverse communities. Collectively, volunteers contributed more than 2,175 hours toward the review process. Volunteers were honored at a reception held at United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.

Jubitz Campaign Goes the Extra Mile

Congratulations to Arielle Lujan and Tracy St. Martin of Jubitz Companies for winning the United Way Campaign Coordinators of the Year Award.

Both Arielle and Tracy made a personal pledge to United Way, encouraging other staff to follow their lead. They recruited a team of 15 employees, conducted timely assistant coordinator training sessions and gave them significant incentive awards for signing up. They developed a campaign timeline, set campaign goals and fit the campaign to Jubitz’s corporate culture.

Pictured from left: Mark Gram, Chief Operating Officer, Jubitz Cos.; Donna Harris, United Way Account Executive; and Jubitz campaign coordinators Tracy St. Martin and Arielle Lujan.

Meetings and events were scheduled at every site and special attention was given to those working the swing and graveyard shifts. In addition to collecting pledge forms, the coordinators placed coin jars and Oregon Food Bank bins throughout the Jubitz organization. Tracy, Arielle and the entire committee worked tirelessly at special events that ran as early as 7am and as late as 7pm.

In addition, their team secured top management endorsement and participation, and secured a Campaign budget The team also secured matching corporate funds from Jubitz Corp. Corporate officers also led the way in giving. Special thanks to Fred Jubitz, President; Larry Bauman, Vice President; Mark Gram, COO; Rod Iwata, Director of IT; and Victor Stibolt.

The campaign coordinators’ message was succinct and clear: "Partner with United Way to advance the common good." As a result, they were able to post an 85% campaign participation rate. Their goal next year is 100%.

Get the complete list of United Way campaign award winners.

Axium Wins Best New Campaign

Congratulations and special thanks to the employees of Axium, a software developer company that specializes in architecture and engineering project management solutions. The 25-year-old company ran its first United Way campaign in 2008-09. Several Axium employees became Leadership Givers, contributing at least $1,000 each to help local programs.

Pictured from left (above): Jeff Zawada, United Way Account Executive; Marc Levy, CEO and President, United Way; Alan Mills, Chief Operating Officer, Axium; Ariel Zimmer, employee campaign coordinator; and Cathy Mills, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Axium. Below, Axium leaders received the Best New Campaign Award on behalf of all employees. Thank you, Axium!



Click here for a complete list of award winners from this year's campaign

United Way Raises $19.64 Million in Annual Community Campaign

United Way of the Columbia-Willamette raised $19.64 million in its annual community campaign, topping last year’s totals by 2% even as the region faces tough economic challenges.

“It was a tough year for fundraising, yet what our community’s results show is an incredible display of generosity and caring,” says Marc Levy, CEO and President of United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. “So many people stepped up and gave what they could to help our community. We are grateful for the leadership of campaign chair, Al Jubitz and volunteers on the campaign cabinet who represent a wide variety of local business leaders.

“We are so fortunate to work with many wonderful ‘cheerleaders’ who touted the importance of community, said Al Jubitz, 2008-09 Campaign Chair. “We’re also grateful for the overwhelming support from companies who are new to the United Way fold.”



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Celebration Highlights Intel Oregon's Commitment to Community

Intel supports employees and retirees giving their time and talent to schools and nonprofit organizations while making our communities a better place to live, work and play.

More than 6,500 Intel employees/retirees donated 235,800 volunteer hours to 350 non-profit organizations in 2008, garnering $1 million in grants from the Intel Foundation under the Intel Involved Matching Grant Program.

At the community celebration held May 15 at Pioneer Courthouse Square, Intel Oregon celebrated the generosity and volunteerism among its employees with live music, free ice cream and check presentations to some of the area's top nonprofits, including United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.

Common Good Forecaster

What would happen over time in a local community if the dropout rate were cut in half?

The Common Good Forecaster projects how a change in the education profile of the nation, a state, or local community is linked to wide-ranging ripple effects in ten critical social and economic indicators.

Now available online, the Common Good Forecaster shows how cutting high school dropout rates would alter key factors in health (such as life expectancy and obesity rates), in financial stability (such as median personal earnings and the poverty rate), in community involvement (such as voting and incarceration rates), and even in education results for the next generation (children's reading proficiency rates). While education is vital for getting a stable and self-supporting job, the cascade of changes extends into many other non-economic quality of life issues.

Click on liveunited.org/forecaster or measureofamerica.org/forecaster, and select Oregon to see how the forecaster works.

A high school dropout is four times more likely to be unemployed than a college graduate. The Common Good Forecaster shows the effects of improving high school graduation rates, and getting more college graduates on unemployment and median incomes.

In 2007, the median income in Oregon is $30, 824, and 10.7 percent living in poverty. Those figures are calculated with 27% of the population with a high school diploma or GED, and 28% with college degrees.




See what happens when we increase the percentage of people with high school diplomas and college degrees. Unemployment goes down, and median incomes rise.

$400,000 in Community Relief Fund Dollars Distributed to Community

United Way of the Columbia-Willamette distributed $400,000 in the first installation of Community Relief Fund dollars to help families with emergency food, rent, and utility assistance.

To learn more about the Community Relief Fund, visit www.give10tell10.org

The Community Relief Fund is an emergency fundraising effort initiated by United Way, the Oregon Food Bank, and Community Action Programs in all four metro area counties and will continue through mid-June. One of the goals of the initiative is to get funds on the street as quickly as possible to help families in crisis.

The $400,000 represent donations from individuals, businesses, and foundations. Major funding partners include: Oregon Community Foundation, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Providence Health System, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. Meyer Memorial Trust has also provided a challenge grant that will match individual donations up to $100,000.

$400,000 was distributed to community action programs in Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah and Washington counties.

In addition to community action programs, culturally-specific agencies serving ethnic, racial and tribal communities also received funding, among them: SEI (Self Enhancement Inc.), IRCO (Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization), NARA (Native American Rehabilitation Association) and NAYA Family Center.