United Way of Summit County Newsletter

Welcome to these companies who are holding a United Way campaign for the first time!
ADESA Cleveland
Akron Thermal Ltd. Partnership
ASW, Inc.
Casnet
Country Pure Foods, Inc.
Crowne Plaza Quaker Square
Diamond Network Polymers, Inc.
Duer Construction Co. Inc.
Liniform Service
Lomax, Soful & Foster CPA
Nations Mortgage
Ohio Precision Molding
Portage Country Club
Sequoia Financial Group
Wallace Lincoln-Mercury, Inc.

2006 CAMPAIGN VIDEO

View our 2006 campaign Video - click here

UNITED WAY BROWN BAG SEMINARS

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!

ARE YOU A DIAMOND DONOR?

You are if you have been giving to United Way - any United Way in any city, in any amount - for 25 years or more. It doesn't matter if you have given individually or as a couple. Click here to enroll online. For more information about the Diamond Donor Society, contact Charlene Corlett, Vice President Major Gifts, at 330-643-5537 or ccorlett@uwsummit.org.
See our updated Diamond Donor List

TAKE OUR SURVEY

United Way of Summit County is conducting surveys of donors and non-donors. The information gathered through these surveys will help determine United Way marketing plans in the future. Please complete the brief survey online. Thank you.

BE A VOLUNTEER

Looking for Volunteer Opportunities? Check out the United Way of Summit County Volunteer Center listing on our website. Updated Weekly!

CONTACT

what matters
is published by the
United Way of Summit County
90 North Prospect St.
P.O. Box 1260
Akron, OH 44309-1260
330.762.7601
www.uwsummit.org

Board Chair:
David A. Brockman, CPA

President
Robert A. Kulinski

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Docs Who Rock Saturday!
The United Way of Summit County's third annual Docs Who Rock^TM is Saturday, October 14, 2006, at The University of Akron's E.J. Thomas Hall beginning at 7:00 pm. Over 1,300 tickets are already sold for what promises to be a fun and rocking evening!

Tickets are just $12 and will be available at the door through the E.J. Thomas Box Office or on Ticketmaster.com. Visit the new website docswhorock.com for more information!

Read-To-Me Day is Wednesday, October 25th

Remember when you were in grade school and a "visitor" was coming to class that day? Remember the excitement?! Now is your chance to be the favorably anticipated "visitor" and participate in Read-To-Me Day on October 25th at the Akron Public Schools. Readers are still needed for just a half-hour or hour of your time at the following schools: Crouse, Fairlawn, Glover, Hatton, Pfeiffer, Ranking, Sam Salem, Smith and Stewart. Please call Shalonda at 330.643.5502 or email sandrews@uwsummit.org by Friday, October 20th if you are interested in participating.

The Walt Disney Company Donates $5,800 to United Way Volunteer Center

The United Way of Summit County Volunteer Center is thrilled to be a recipient of a $5,800 donation from The Walt Disney Company in recognition of the important work and impact the Center makes in our community. As a member in Good Standing of the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, the Volunteer Center was eligible to receive a portion of the $1.8 million donated to the Network by The Walt Disney Company. Disney is dedicated to making the wishes of families and children a reality through public service initiatives, community outreach and volunteerism in the areas of compassion, learning, the arts and the environment. We want to take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation to The Walt Disney Company.

Goodyear Presents Tire Sale Check to United Way

Goodyear Retail presented a check to Katie Rennard, United Way's Vice President Resource Development, at the Goodyear Retail Town Hall Meeting on Friday October 6. The Goodyear Retail associates raised $2,510 from the United Way Tire Sale. For each tire sold during September's United Way Tire Sale, $1 was donated to the campaign.

Pictured above (left to right) are Lyn Lovell, director technology planning and 2006 United Way campaign chair, Katie Rennard, Dave Bard, Akron District Project Manager, and Brett Ponton, Vice President, Goodyear Retail.

Additionally, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company employees wrapped up their campaign with a spirited Olympics-themed competition. Participants were divided into 15 teams of eight to ten individuals who participated in events to test their skills, including the wastebasket toss, office supplies relay, office chair relay race and the infamous egg toss spanning the width of the Goodyear Gym. The results were tabulated, and the winning team received “Olympic” medals. Our sincere thanks to Goodyear for their incredible support of what matters in our community.

Stark & Knoll Rises to the Challenge
Congratulations to the generous donors of Stark & Knoll! Their record breaking 2006 campaign surpassed last year's with an incredible 271% increase in contributions with 59% of Stark & Knoll employees participating, up from just 5% the previous year. This law firm will be a serious contender in the United Way Law Challenge, a friendly competition jointly developed by the Akron Bar Association and United Way of Summit County to demonstrate the crucial leadership role lawyers play in helping our community to be a better place through their charitable contributions. Good luck to Stark and Knoll and all law firms taking the Challenge! To those law firms that have not yet completed their campaigns, don't throw in the towel just yet! The United Way Law Challenge award will go to the firm with the highest percentage increase in per capita contributions to United Way (total dollar amount of individual donations by firm employees excluding corporate gifts/total number of firm employees) with at least 50% of all firm employees participating during the 2006 Campaign. These criteria were established to encourage competition among firms of all sizes. We will keep you guessing on how law firms are stacking up on this measure until the end of the campaign!

Visiting Nurse Service Serves Pancakes for United Way
Visiting Nurse Service & Affiliates held a Pancake Breakfast on Wednesday, October 11th to help raise contributions for their United Way Campaign. Employees had their choice of made-to-order blueberry, apple, walnut, or chocolate chip pancakes and sausage. VNSA employees are continuing their successful special events with a Bake Sale today. Pictured are (l to r) Kathy Rogel, Mary Chronister, Christal Spurlock, and United Way Loaned Executive Melvin Blake.

FedEx Employees Tour United Way Office
A group from FedEx visited the United Way office on Wednesday to get a better understanding of how United Way makes an impact in our community. Mary Mickey summed up her feelings after the tour, "The knowledge we gained through the tour will allow us to work within our company and communities to help provide a catalyst for change."

The tour guests included Donna Pelech, IT Director, Mary Mickey, Tina Roberts, Jeff McElhinny, Bill Dubinsky, Sandy Shingleton, Sharon Smith, and Susan Palmer.

Harwick Standard Distribution Begins Campaign
The new CEO of Harwick Standard Distribution, Mr. E. Pouttu (pictured at left), was presented an award for their outstanding 2005 campaign. The award presentation helped kick off their 2006 annual campaign drive earlier this month. Loaned Executive Joe Pallotta (r) is shown presenting the award and reinforcing the importance of Harwick's continued charitable support of our community through United Way.

Recruitment for Project Blueprint 2007 Continues
October 31st is the deadline to apply! United Way's Project Blueprint provides leadership development training for members of ethnic communities who are interested in volunteering with nonprofit agencies in Summit County. If you are interested or know someone that would benefit from this experience click here to learn more about Project Blueprint and to complete the application/nomination forms. For more information contact Brenda Cox at (330) 643.5508 or email bcox@uwsummit.org.

Loaned Executives Help Run Campaigns

The 2006 United Way/Red Cross Campaign is in full swing and fourteen 'Loaned Executives' are working hard to make the fundraising campaign a success. The participants in the 'Loaned Executive' (LE) program will help to impact the health and wellness of the residents of Summit County and Wadsworth, and at the same time, improve their personal skills and management abilities. The program runs for 13 weeks, and is being sponsored by many local companies. Those companies are: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; FirstEnergy, Inc.; City of Akron, Sterling Jewelers, Inc.; Bridgestone/Firestone Tire; County of Summit; UPS; American Red Cross, Summit County Chapter; Myers Industries, Inc.; Allstate Insurance Company; and The University of Akron.

Read the Loaned Executive Bios
See their Pictures

A New Tool For Giving
If you are over age 70 1/2 years, a new tax law now lets you "rollover" charitable gifts from your IRA to United Way or other charities without claiming any increased income or paying any additional tax. Your tax-free rollover gift could be $1,000 or $10,000 or any amount up to $100,000 in one year. If married, each spouse can transfer up to $100,000 from his or her IRA. Here are several reasons to consider this option:

Simple and Easy: Simply contact you IRA custodian and request that an amount be transferred to United Way. We receive a much-needed gift and you avoid any additional tax because the amount taken from your IRA is not reported as taxable income.

Now Is The Time: The new law was enacted for 2006 and 2007 only, so now is the time to consider using your IRA assets for charitable purposes. Now is also the time because you can witness the benefits of your generosity and power of caring.

Special Opportunity: Your untapped IRA assets give you a special opportunity - use these assets to make a one-time donation to endow your annual United Way gift or donate a major gift that would be beyond your means using your regular income.

As always, we encourage you to consult your tax professionals if you are considering a charitable gift under the new law. For a confidential discussion about making a gift from your IRA, contact Charlene Corlett at 330-643-5537 or ccorlett@uwsummit.org.

Non-Profits: Submit Your Holiday Volunteer Requests and Wish Lists
if your non-profit needs volunteer help for the holidays or have a Wish List for donations needed, submit your needs to the United Way of Summit County Volunteer Center. We'll try our best to match you up with those wanting to help. Hurry the deadline for requests is Wednesday, October 25th. Make your request with our online form. For more information contact Pam Beals at 330.643.5512 or pbeals@uwsummit.org