15th Annual Far West Fibers Classic Hits Fundraising Milestone

Over 250 golfers hit the links Thursday, June 24th to support United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. The Far West Fibers Classic raised a total of $1 million since its inception 15 years ago.

The 15th annual charity golf tournament was held at one of Oregon’s most prestigious courses, Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club’s Ghost Creek course. Golfers raised money for United Way of the Columbia-Willamette’s programs helping children and families that are in need in Washington, Multnomah, Clackamas and Clark counties.

“Part of our mission at Far West Fibers is to give back and this is one of the ways we can accomplish that goal,” said Stan Girard, Chief Operating Officer at Far West Fibers. “We love doing this tournament because we believe in United Way of the Columbia-Willamette’s work because it is a great way to get funds into the community and they do the very best job helping people.”

Fifteen years ago, tournament co-directors Stan Girard, Keith Ristau were seeking a way to increase the impact of their employee giving campaign in a fun way. Their love of golf and community led them to hold the first tournament with only 56 golfers at the Meriwether National Golf Club in Hillsboro.

“We were excited to have the opportunity to combine our passions of supporting our community and golfing,” said Keith Ristau, President of Far West Fibers. “We’ve drawn so many people year after year to support United Way. We always knew we’d reach $1 million and it’s so gratifying to finally have reached that milestone because with United Way of the Columbia-Willamette we know the money has been put to good use in our community.”

The Far West Fibers Classic has become one of the premier charity golf tournaments in the four county region. The day’s events include the tournament itself as well as putting contests, a hole in one challenge and more.

Next year’s tournament date has been set for June 23, 2011 and we hope you'll join us!

And the Winners Are...

Here are the winners of the 2010 Far West Fibers Classic:

Morning round:

1st place – Nuener, Davidson & Cooley
Charles Neuner
Tom Davidson
Mark Woods
Jeff Bean

2nd place - Recology
Ginger Emrick
Julie Jorgenson
Shane Jorgenson
Blake Murillo

3rd place – Morgan Machinery and Moving
Jeff Morgan
Greg Springsteen
Troy Talent
Tom Walker

Closest to the pin – Jeff Bean and Nancy Forstrom
Longest drive – Bill Woods and Ali Battaglia
Putting contest – Phil Middleton

Afternoon round:

1st place – US Bank

Michael Van Orman

Stan Reneker

Pete Craven
Chris Devich

2nd place – Legend Logistics and Trucking
Kevin White
David Niskanem
Mark Wittmeyer
Dave Harmensen

3rd place – Propel Insurance
Mike Bennett
Scott Farmer
Steve Warren
Tom Boyle

Closest to the pin – Scott Farmer and Brie Heinz
Longest drive – Gary Peck and Kat Centers

Responding to an Oregonian OpEd about Domestic Violence

The following is a response to an earlier Op-Ed about domestic violence that contained inadequately research data about domestic violence and misinformation about United Way of the Columbia-Willamette's work with partner organizations working on the issue. The below Letter to the Editor was co-written by Melissa Erlbaum, Executive Director of Clackamas Women's Services and Marc Levy, President/CEO of United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.

Domestic violence

We would like to respond to the op-ed "Men should be more than a national afterthought" by Phillip Cook (OregonLive.com, June 1).

Domestic violence is a pattern of behaviors by one person to exert power and control over another in an intimate relationship. In a society where positions of power are still predominantly held by men, it is not surprising that the majority of perpetrators are men. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 85 percent of domestic violence is perpetrated by men against women. However, despite their numbers, male survivors do receive services in our community. United Way of the Columbia-Willamette provided funds to Clackamas Women's Services (CWS) to lead a collaborative initiative to expand housing for survivors who face homelessness. All CWS programs are open to men.

Our community needs men as part of the movement to end domestic violence. CWS is closely involved with Oregon Men Against Violence and a variety of other male stakeholders to address these issues. Only by men and women working together can we end domestic violence. CWS and United Way invite you to get involved by contacting your local domestic violence programs.

MELISSA ERLBAUM
and MARC R. LEVY

Erlbaum is the executive director of Clackamas Women's Services. Levy is the president/CEO of United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.
 
http://blog.oregonlive.com/myoregon/2010/06/letters_economy_domestic_viole.html

Union Pacific Supports United Way

Toni Carlo, Vice President of Workplace Giving for United Way of the Columbia-Willamette accepts a $5,000 check from Aaron Hunt, Director, Corporate Relations & Media for Union Pacific at a recent luncheon hosted by the Union Pacific Foundation for non-profit partners. Union Pacific and Union Pacific employees have been long-time supporters of United Way and we thank them for investing in our community.

Local LIVE UNITED Story Goes National

United Way Worldwide chose a fantastic LIVE UNITED story from United Way of the Columbia-Willamette to use in their national campaigns.

This fantastic video features Meera who helps Portland area childrens and parents with a United Way of the Columbia-Willamette funded program at Neighborhood House. Hear how Meera works to LIVE UNITED, she's an inspiration!

Watch the video here

United Way Honors Wells Fargo as Largest Employee Campaign Nationally

United Way has singled out Wells Fargo for both national and regional honors as a result of the firm’s community support.

United Way Worldwide honored Wells Fargo as the largest employee campaign in the entire United States. Wells Fargo team members pledged a record $41.9 million through their annual 2009 Community Support and United Way Campaign—a 21-percent increase over 2008. Combined with corporate gifts, this totaled more than $60 million, which United Way will use in part to help meet its national goals to increase the number of students who graduate, help more families become financially stable, and increase the number of healthy youth and adults.

Additionally, more than 32,000 Wells Fargo team members nationwide volunteered 1.23 million hours in 2009, providing financial literacy classes, free tax preparation and much more. In March, United Way recognized Wells Fargo with a Summit Award for exceptional volunteerism as a testament to the financial services company and its employees’ ongoing commitment to communities.

Local Honors

In Portland, United Way of the Columbia-Willamette also recently honored Wells Fargo locally for its 2009-2010 Giving Campaign. In the four-county Portland/Vancouver region, Wells Fargo’s employee giving and corporate gift totaled $927,000. In addition, Wells Fargo team members’ annual volunteerism in Oregon and southwest Washington in 2009 rose 70-percent to 64,779 hours.

At United Way of Columbia-Willamette’s Celebration of Caring event April 29, which honors companies that go above and beyond in their annual giving campaign, Wells Fargo was a standout campaign leader. United Way honored Wells Fargo with the Campaign Chair’s Award for Excellence for outstanding campaign performance.

Wells Fargo is a distinguished member of the United Way Global Corporate Leadership program, an elite group of the country’s top corporate citizens, dedicated to improving lives and strengthening communities to create a better life for all people. Wells Fargo has been recognized by Forbes, Business Week, Newsweek and Barron’s as one of the world’s most admired, most generous and most respected companies.

Celebration of Caring Event Photos

Last week United Way of the Columbia-Willamette announced it's 2009-2010 campaign total to a fantastic group of supporters. The campaign raised over $20 million which is up from last year, a testament to our community's generosity. Below are some photo highlights from the event. If you would like to read more about the award recipients, have a look United Way's previous blog post.

Campaign Chair’s Award for Excellence were awarded to Wells Fargo, Costco Wholesale and Norm Thompson Outfitters

Our wonderful sponsors for the evening: Boeing

Employees from Wells Fargo. Corporate and employee giving at Wells Fargo totaled an outstanding $927,000! 

Jill Eiland accepts the Corporate Leadership Award on behalf of Intel Corporation. 

Employees of Enterprise Holdings with their Campaign Performance Award  

Thanks to all our community partners for a wonderful evening!

United Way Announces Giving Campaign Total

United Way of the Columbia-Willamette today announces that its 2009-2010 Community Giving Campaign has reached $20,103,670 which is a 2.2% increase over the previous year. This announcement comes one week after United Way released its Community Impact Results Report, highlighting the agency’s impact over the past five years.

During tough economic times, United Way credits its many individual, corporate, employee, retiree and foundation givers as helping to outpace last year’s Campaign total of $19.6 million. This is the fifth year in a row that United Way has increased the level of the giving campaigns and puts the organization among the top 10% of United Ways in the nation.

Intel Corporation’s record-setting campaign topped $6 million, significantly boosting the overall total for United Way with employee and retiree gifts as well as a one-to-one match from the Intel Foundation. Intel additionally contributed significant employee volunteer hours. This is the second year Intel has set a giving record with last year’s total at $5.6 million.

Of the almost 1,000 companies running an employee giving campaign this year, three stand out as this year’s awardees of the Campaign Chair’s Award for Excellence: Wells Fargo, Costco Wholesale, and Norm Thompson Outfitters. Of note in Clark County, the City of Vancouver is the awarded of the Best of County employee giving campaign award. At the Celebration of Caring event this Thursday evening, these and many other outstanding community partners will be honored with awards.

Wells Fargo’s employee giving and corporate gift totaled an outstanding $927,000 with employee giving increasing by almost $140,000 and volunteerism nearly doubling to 64,800 hours. Costco Wholesale’s campaign increased by an incredible 40% and contributed close to $400,000. Norm Thompson Outfitters’ campaign increased by 125% from $28,000 to $63,000 and employees also volunteered in a variety of community service projects.

Corporations and individuals that will be recognized at Celebration of Caring campaign announcement event include:

Best New Campaign: Deschutes Brewery

Labor Partner of the Year: IBEW Local 48

Campaign Coordinators of the Year: Dennis Catmull, Costco Wholesale and Danielle Sass, Benson Industries

Best of County:
Clackamas – Johnson Controls Battery Group
Clark – City of Vancouver
Multnomah – Benson Industries
Washington – Enterprise Holdings

Best of Trade:
Auto Dealers: Ron Tonkin Corporation
Banks/Finance: OnPoint Credit Union
Education: Beaverton School District
Health: Providence Health & Services
High Tech: TriQuint Semiconductor
Hospitality: Deschutes Brewery
Insurance: State Farm Insurance
Government: Clean Water Services
Manufacturing: PCC Structurals
Retail: Nordstrom
Professional: Stoel Rives
Media: The Columbian
Telecom: Comcast

Campaign Performance Awards:
Allstate Insurance Companies
Bi-Mart
Cascade Corporation
CH2M Hill
Deloitte
Enterprise Holdings
Harris Group
Intel
International Paper
OnPoint Credit Union
Oregon Business Council
Pacific Machinery & Tool Steel
Rodda Paint
Yost Grube Hall Architecture
Zones Inc

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