IN THIS ISSUE

Campaign News:

• Roadway

• National City Bank

• First Communications

• Ferry Industries

• Flexsys America

• Ohio Gasket & Shim

• Lockheed Martin

• Mickey Thompson Tires

Spread Some Holiday Cheer!

Area Students Distribute Funds for Youth Programs

Donate Directly From Your Traditional or Roth IRA

First-Time Campaigns

Brown Bag Seminars

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Be A Volunteer

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You can donate securely online or call 330.762.7601 for more information.

• Air Enterprises, Inc.
• Ardmore, Inc.
• Cambridge Home Health Care
• Country Pure Foods, Inc.
• Evant, Inc.
• Gayson Silicone Dispersions, Inc.
• HCR Manor Care
• Interfaith Hospitality Network Summit Co.
• Mickey Thompson Tires
• North Akron Savings Bank
• OPEN M
• Portage Country Club
• Rose Pest Solutions
• Stewart's Caring Place
• VIOX Services, Inc.
• Witschey, Witschey & Firestine Co., LPA

Brown Bag Seminars are a great way to provide informational and educational seminars to your employees in the workplace.  They work well as an addition to your United Way campaign, or can be held any time of year. Click here to learn more!

Youth & College Brown Bag Seminars also now being offered!

BE A VOLUNTEER

First Communications Cruises Past Goal
As the winner of a United Way of Summit County Chairman's Award for the "Best Campaign Comeback" for their 2006 campaign, First Communications had their work cut out for them this year. The 2007 campaign committee wanted to outdo last year's extraordinary effort, and they succeeded.

This year, the company went all out to promote employee participation in the United Way campaign. The committee decided the best people to promote the campaign were their co-workers, so an advocate group was organized to spend a day visiting United Way affiliated agencies so they could return to work and share their experiences.

A kickoff breakfast on October 23 featured speakers from the advocate group and United Way Affiliated Agencies, and prize drawings that donors could enter upon turning in their pledge form. Donors of a certain level were also eligible for the grand prize, an all expenses paid Caribbean cruise, complete with extra vacation days, which was won by lucky employee Marcy Prager.

Best of all, First Communications exceeded their goal to achieve an astounding 232% total increase over the 2006 campaign and a 333% increase in employee giving!  United Way can't thank enough CEO Ray Hexamer, committee chair Chris McKnight, all the committee members, and the employees of First Communications for their enthusiasm, creativity and most of all, their generosity.

Pictured left to right: CFO Frank Lomanno, COO Joe Morris, cruise winner Marcy Prager, Margaret Sell of United Way and CEO Ray Hexamer.

Ferry Industries Has Best Campaign Ever
Ferry Industries reported that they held their most generous United Way Campaign ever, with the number of employees contributing rising 77% and the amount of dollars donated up by 63%!  Bill Crooks, President of the Tri-County Regional Labor Council and United Steel Workers # 7 along with Beth Curley, AFL-CIO Labor Liaison at United Way helped kick-off the campaign with a speaking presentation on October 16th. 

Thanks to Ferry Industries President, Harry Covington, Jr., Rich Bieterman, Treasurer/CFO and Bonnie Krueger, Campaign Coordinator for coordinating their 2007 United Way/Red Cross Campaign.  Thanks also to the generous employees that have shown tremendous support for our community!

Ohio Gasket and Shim Surpasses Goal
Ohio Gasket and Shim in Akron held a three day campaign on October 24th, 25th and 26th.  This year's campaign included pizza for all employees, raffle drawing give-aways for donors that included a free lunch, ½ day vacations and more.   Company President John Bader addressed his employees about the importance of giving, the history of United Way and its impact on the community.  The campaign was coordinated by employees Shelly Penrod and Wendy Bertaka with assistance from Virgil Brown and Joe Pallotta, United Way Loaned Executives and Laura Brelin, United Way Resource Development Director. Ohio Gasket and Shim almost tripled their goal by the end of a strong and fun campaign.

Thank you to management and all employees at Ohio Gasket and Shim for their effort, enthusiasm and generous contributions!

Creative Events Raise Donations for United Way at Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin continued their 2007 United Way Campaign with some special events including a Pumpkin Decorating Contest and more than 70 fabulous silent auction items (many donated by employees) that will help employees with their holiday gift giving.

Over $100 was raised from the pumpkin contest alone! The first and second place Pumpkin Decorating Contest winners are pictured at left:  First Place(top): Mike Olinger (although his friend decorated the pumpkin), Second Place: Annie Mullins. 

Thanks Lockheed Martin for coming up with fun, creative ways to raise funds for our community!

Mickey Thompson Tires Kicks-off First Campaign
Mickey Thompson Performance Tires kicked off their first-ever United Way Campaign on Wednesday, November 7th.  Their kick-off included a presentation from United Way's Ing Kiland, speaker Pamela Betty from Interfaith Hospitality Network,  a luncheon and a raffle.

Thanks to Campaign Coordinator Tamara Smith, Human Resources Manager, for arranging the event and General Manager, Phil Kortokrax, (a former Campaign Coordinator) for sharing his feelings about United Way and how your donations help in our community.  Many thanks for supporting United Way and our efforts to improve lives in Summit County!

Many Summit County non-profit organizations have special needs during the holiday season. The United Way of Summit County Volunteer Center wants to match up those needing help with companies, groups, families and individuals who want to spread some holiday cheer.

Here are some of the things you could do to brighten someone's holiday:

• Donate toys for children
• Donate items for agency clients & families
• Wrap Christmas gifts
• Adopt a family or child
• Donate gift certificates for families in need

Browse our online list of holiday volunteer opportunities. For more information, please contact Pam Beals at the United Way of Summit County Volunteer Center, 330.643.5512 or email pbeals@uwsummit.org.

Area Students Distribute Funds for Youth Programs
On October 26 and 27, a group of students from several area schools participated in the United Way of Summit County Youth Initiative Allocations Team. The students, from schools that run a United Way Student Campaign, learned about United Way and made decisions about funding youth-oriented programs based on proposals submitted by United Way of Summit County affiliated agencies. With $5,000 available to allocate, the students examined each proposal before ultimately deciding to fund programs at four agencies: the Akron Community Service Center & Urban League, Boy Scouts of America, Catholic Social Services of Summit County and CYO & Community Services.

This year's participants were Shawatha Covington, North High School; Kara Whiting, Buchtel High School; Megan Bryant, Spring Hill Junior High; Nathan Bryant, Springfield High School; Pierce Sparks, Spring Hill Junior High and Kirsten Sparks, Schrop Intermediate School.

United Way of Summit County's Youth Initiative focuses on raising awareness of community needs among our youth by providing opportunities for students to learn about philanthropy and become more involved in their community through fundraising and volunteering. For more information about the Youth Initiative, visit our website or contact Margaret Sell at 330.643.5516.

Donate Directly From Your Traditional or Roth IRA!
Are you 70 ½ years or older, or do you handle financial matters for an older relative or loved one? If so, you need to know there is a tax incentive called the IRA Charitable Rollover which allows taxpayers to transfer gifts directly from IRAs to the charities -- without including the total as income. Who benefits from the IRA Charitable Rollover?
 

• Taxpayers who don’t itemize their deductions: Nearly 2/3 of Americans do not itemize deductions so they do not receive a tax benefit for their charitable contributions.

• Itemizing taxpayers who've reached the charitable giving limit: Donors who itemize can only deduct 50% of their adjusted gross income but donations from IRAs are excluded from this limit.

• Taxpayers whose deductions go down as their income goes up: By donating from your IRA -- rather than taking a distribution that qualifies as income -- you keep your income down and you might qualify for other tax deductions.

Donations must be made directly from the IRA to a qualified charity such as United Way of Summit County. To use your IRA to make your annual United Way donation, simply call or write to your IRA office. Don't delay since you may need several weeks "turn-around" time so your check can be requested and postmarked no later than December 31, 2007. For information contact Charlene Corlett at United Way of Summit County, 330.643.5537 or ccorlett@uwsummit.org. Also, visit our website at www.uwsummit.org and click Planned Giving, then click IRA Charitable Rollover.