Submitted on behalf of Richard Drieberg, Vice President, Enterprise Valuation Group, Bank of America & YLS Issue Awareness Committee Member.

United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Young Leaders Society (YLS) members and guests were treated to an evening of ‘Speed Networking’, as part of the YLS Issues Awareness Committee’s You Are What You Read event, focused on childhood literacy. The event featured panelists Jennifer Leigh, VP of External Relations at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning; Mary Zabelski, SVP of Educational Services at Chicago Lighthouse; Karina Kelly, Executive Director at Jumpstart-Midwest Region; and Katie Cangemi, Director of Community Investment-Education at United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, who shared with the group the mission of their respective organizations, as well as touching personal stories regarding students that they have been able to reach and help.

The ‘Speed Networking’ segment of the evening allowed the featured panelists to join breakout groups, where they helped lead a discussion within a smaller group to take a more in-depth look into childhood literacy. Within the breakout groups, panelists helped frame the issue and define the problem; discussed the income, language, and physical barriers to achieving full childhood literacy; outlined the specific actions their respective organizations take on a day-to-day basis to combat these barriers; and proposed ways that groups such as YLS and the United Way can take action to get involved with the cause.

The evening closed with inspiring stories from each of the panelists, but with the caveat that there is still a long way to go to overcome the challenges of childhood literacy in our community. The message was clear, however, that by raising awareness and taking action, we can face these challenges head on and ensure that all children have the basic literacy skills needed to shine along their education path into the future.

Special thanks to Jennifer, Mary, Karina, and Katie for taking the time to lead the discussion, and to PricewaterhouseCoopers and Hannah’s Bretzel for graciously donating in support of our event.

Learn more about YLS and upcoming events here.

We welcome you to join us in our annual North Shore Food Drive, February 11th-18th, 2012!

More than 25 local businesses and organizations are participating as “collection sites” for your donation across the region. Last year, North Shore United Way (NSUW) volunteers collected 10,000 lbs of donations for local pantries from community members like you. With need on the rise, help NSUW volunteers make this year an even greater success. Your donation will make a difference for a family in need.

2012 North Shore Food Drive donations will benefit seven North Shore pantries: Northfield Township Food Pantry (Glenview), New Trier Township Pantry (Winnetka), West Deerfield Township (Deerfield), Church of the Holy Spirit (Lake Forest), Moraine Township Pantry (Highland Park), Salvation Army (Evanston), and Harvest Food Pantry (Evanston).

Pantries report that, in addition to food needs, requests for more expensive toiletries have increased in the past few years. Items such as laundry detergent, feminine products, and toothpaste are welcome parts of any traditional food drive. A full list of pantry needs is avaliable below.

For questions about the North Shore Food Drive, please contact North Shore United Way at 847-674-2668. See below to find the collection location nearest you. Thank you for your support!

Food items requested:

[Unopened and unexpired cans and boxes (no glass, please)]
- Canned fruits and vegetables (with pull tops, if possible)
- 100% fruit and vegetable juice (cans or plastic bottles only)
- Personal care items (feminine products, toothpaste, diapers, shampoos & conditioner, laundry detergent)
- Baby food
- Canned meat, fish & poultry (tuna, spam, ham, chicken)
- Pasta & sauce, bagged rice, bagged pinto beans
- Chips and cookies
- Peanut butter and jelly
- Salad dressing and condiments
- Hamburger Helper, stuffing, mashed potatoes
- Evaporated or powdered milk (in packets)

Collection box locations:

Deerfield Village Hall 465 Elm Street, Deerfield
Deerfield Park District 836 Jewett Pk.Drive, Deerfield
Deerfield Bank & Trust 660 Deerfield Road, Deerfield
At Properties 1821 Benson Avenue, Evanston
McGaw YMCA, Lobby 1000 Grove Street, Evanston
Harris Bank 2821 Central Street, Evanston
Glencoe Nails 342 Tudor Court, Glencoe
Glencoe Park District at the Takiff Center 999 Green Bay Road, Glencoe
The Comprehensive Group 3703 W. Lake Street, Glenview
Glenview Park Center 1215 Waukegan Road, Glenview
Equinox Fitness 799 Central Street, Highland Park
Sunset Foods 1812 Green Bay Road, Highland Park
HP Recreation Center 1207 Park Avenue, Highland Park
Lake Bluff Library 123 East Scranton Avenue, Lake Bluff
Northern Trust 265 E. Deerpath, Lake Forest
Lake Forest Hlth & Fitness 1200 N. Westmooreland, Lake Forest
Lake Forest High School 1285 N. McKinley Road, Lake Forest
Gorton Center 400 E Illinois Road, Lake Forest
Northbrook Bank & Trust 1100 Waukegan Road, Northbrook
West Northbrook Bank/ Wintrust 875 Sanders Road, Northbrook
Teddie Kossof Salon 281 Waukegan Road, Northfield
Northview Bank 245 Waukegan Road, Northfield
No. Shore Comm. Bank 1145 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette
Gold Medal Cleaners 1123 Central Avenue, Wilmette
Northern Trust 62 Green Bay Road, Winnetka
Round Table Books 572 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka
The Private Bank 1000 Green Bay Road, Winnetka
At Properties 30 Green Bay Road, Winnetka
Winnetka Community House 620 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka

View North Shore Food Drive in a larger map

Last week, the Young Leaders Society (YLS) Member Development Committee hosted its second United Way 101 session of the year. The event offered an interactive format designed to engage attendees. Participants learned about United Way and YLS through speed networking and trivia tables that presented different ways to Give, Advocate, and Volunteer in the Chicagoland area.  This event was a great opportunity for those new to YLS to learn about how they can directly bring about transformative change in their communities by advancing income, education and health. United Way staff and YLS MD Committee members were also able to gather interesting and creative suggestions from attendees for future events. Overall, the event was very successful, and we look forward to hosting a similar event in the future!

Learn more about United Way of Metropolitan Chicago’s Young Leaders Society.

Submitted on behalf of Alison McDonald, Chicago Career Tech Participant.

I’m a participant in the Chicago Career Tech job retraining program and have been completing the hands-on learning portion of my work here at the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago since November. I wanted to share a bit about how I got to Chicago Career Tech, what I’m learning through the program and how I’m applying that new knowledge here to help United Way.

My background is in educational publishing. I’ve spent most of my career working as a production artist—laying out the copy from editors and styling it per the book designer’s template. I was also given the opportunity to learn new computer skills to improve workflow. It was through a friend in the publishing business that I found out about Chicago Career Tech. She was in CCT’s project management training track and recommended that I apply. I’m so glad that I followed her advice.

Through Chicago Career Tech, I’ve received job training in web development and have been using knowledge I gained in the classroom to work with United Way’s content management system. For example, I’ve used my new skills in HTML and CSS to make changes to companies’ fundraising web pages. I’ve also worked on user experience projects such as an online survey to collect feedback from campaign coordinators as to how they view the training and utilization of the online pledging process and how it can be improved.

Both my supervisor and boss have years of experience and are eager to share their knowledge and answer all my questions. They include me in weekly meetings and allow me to participate in discussions and training sessions with United Way’s partner companies. They also like to hear what I’m learning in class and how that can be applied to what I’m doing here at United Way.

I’ve always wanted to experience working in a non-profit setting and this program has given me a chance to do that. The people at United Way of Metropolitan Chicago are incredibly friendly and helpful—they are the most enjoyably diverse group of people I’ve ever worked with.

My work at United Way gives me a sense of purpose and a feeling that I’m invaluable to the Operations team. I’m grateful for this valuable opportunity that Chicago Career Tech and United Way have provided me and am sure this experience is preparing me well for the next chapter in my career.

If your organization would like to participate as a host site in the Chicago Career Tech program, please click here for further information. If you would like to apply to be a Chicago Career Tech participant, please click here.

We are a month into 2012 and our New Years resolutions to stay healthy and fit are in full swing. We thought this would be a great time to sit down with Wendy DuBoe, Interim CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Chicago to get her insight on why United Way focuses on health and how staying healthful is so important, not only to you but to our entire community.

Q: Why does United Way focus on health & wellness?
A: Health and wellness is a key component – some might say the very basis – of the quality of life for individuals, families and communities. Having a healthy lifestyle affects other facets of your life i.e. a good education and becoming financially stable.

Q: How will LIVE UNITED 2020 serve the health of our community?
A: LIVE UNITED 2020 will connect 200,000 individuals across the six-county region to available, preventative health services. United Way does this by helping individuals in low-income communities’ access primary health services and other forms of preventive care. We also support education programs that help teach preventions of chronic diseases.

Q: Why is healthy eating such an important part of a wellness plan?
A: What we eat is so important to our health and who we are. Good nutrition fuels a healthy body and the lack of it has the opposite effect. It goes beyond just physical well being, research has linked nutrition to our ability to learn and succeed in school and at work.

Q: Why is physical activity such an important part of a wellness plan?
A: Our body needs exercise and activity to keep our energy level high, build strong cardio function and also strength, which helps avoid injury. Physical activity also affects our mood.

Q: What tips/tricks do you have that helps you stay on track when life gets busy?
A: I try to be extra careful about what I eat (and get a lot of protein), sleep as much as I can and work out a lot. To get some R and R, I find reading something completely different than what is currently going on in my life to be very relaxing – like a novel or a biography from another era.

Q: What ways can someone get involved in United Way to stay healthful?
A: I am very excited to announce two new ways to partner with United Way in the coming months. Our LIVE UNITED 5K on May 5 will help support one of our community initiatives, The Southeast DuPage Health Initiative, for which we’re seeking runners, volunteers and sponsors. We are also recruiting runners to be part of TEAM UNITED WAY for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Registration is now open for both these opportunities. Time to grab those running shoes and RUN UNITED!

Stay tuned for our next SPEAK UNITED blog with Wendy DuBoe!

Posted on behalf of Annette Charles, Director of Community Investment-Income at United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.

As you know, one of United Way’s issue areas in Income. We believe when people have the job training, income supports and opportunities to become financially stable, our community is stronger. With tax season upon us I wanted to make sure you were aware of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

EITC is a financial boost for working people in a recovering economy. It is one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty programs, annually lifting 6.6 million people out of poverty; half of these are children. Last year, over 1 million workers filed EITC claims and the average amount received was $2,250. EITC helps offset the impact of Social Security taxes and provides an incentive for work. It is the federal government’s largest benefit program for workers. See if you qualify.

We also have a great tax season VOLUNTEER opportunity for you. Become a tax prep volunteer! Click here if you are interested in helping Center for Economic Progress and Ladder Up provide tax prep assistance to lower-income families and individuals around Chicagoland.

I hope United Way can continue to be a resource for you and I look forward to writing my next SPEAK UNITED blog. In the meantime, if you would like more information about UWMC’s efforts to grow a regional volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) partnership, please feel free to contact me at 312-906-2410.

Melissa Hamilton is a Tax Manager at PwC and Committee Member of the United Way Young Leaders Society (YLS) Issues and Awareness Committee. Along with the rest of her committee, she is hard at work on the final details for the Jan. 31 “You Are What You Read: Addressing Early Childhood Education” event. Read on to learn why she joined YLS, what connects her to YLS and why we can’t wait for Superman.

Why did you join YLS?

I have been connected with volunteer organizations and actively involved in community service since high school. Upon moving to Chicago in 2008, I was looking to continue my service and explore volunteer opportunities. I volunteered for a United Way Day of Caring project with my company and had a great time. Through that project I had the opportunity to learn more about United Way firsthand. I was excited to learn that United Way had a Young Leaders group, which appealed to me because it seemed to provide an avenue for Chicago young professionals to work together in the spirit of volunteerism.

Why did you choose your particular committee?

I chose to be a member of the Issues and Awareness Committee because I have a natural passion for following issues that are most relevant to the broader community. As a member of this committee, I am able to dig even deeper into such issues and assist with programming that helps to educate others.

What YLS event are you most excited about?

I am most excited about the upcoming “You Are What You Read: Addressing Early Childhood Education” event on January 31st. This event is hosted by the Issues and Awareness Committee and is guaranteed to open the eyes of the attendees to the importance of a strong education foundation for Chicago area children.

There are so many good not-for-profit agencies. What makes YLS the right option for you?

YLS is the right option for me because I am able to work with a broad range of not-for-profit agencies and learn about numerous issues that are facing our community, all while volunteering alongside Chicago’s top young professionals!

What would you say to someone interested in joining YLS?

YLS is a great organization. If you are looking for a way to help make a positive impact throughout your community – YLS is the right place for you!

What was your favorite YLS or United Way event?

I really enjoyed the “Waiting for Superman” event. This event really highlighted the intensity of the the charter school selection process and really opened my eyes.

Now, some fun questions:
Favorite TV show? – Selling New York, The Mentalist

Favorite book? – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best concert you have attended – Beyonce

Where did you grow up? – Florissant, Missouri

Where did you go to college? – University of Missouri – Columbia (bka “MIZZOU”)

What are your biggest hobbies? Volunteering, Shopping, Reading, Sports – specifically Volleyball

This blog was posted on behalf of YLS General Member Denise M. Thomas, GE Healthcare.

The Stay in School Initiative was an exciting and rewarding volunteer opportunity! Each of the students displayed enthusiasm and an eagerness to learn from this event. Kudos to the both the students and coordinators for using their Saturday morning towards personal and professional development.

I personally gained from the “brag ball” exercise. All of the attendees, including the volunteers and students, formed a circle and passed a ball to someone who they were impacted by or impressed with while publicly acknowledging them to the entire group.

I strongly encourage all Young Leaders Society (YLS) members to continue supporting future related events!

Posted on behalf of Richard Drieberg, Vice President, Enterprise Valuation Group and YLS Committee Member.

You Are What You Read. This twist on the familiar saying rings true today, as thousands of Chicago area children struggle daily to learn the basic building blocks of education. Without ensuring our community’s children are armed with the basic necessities of reading and writing skills, we risk placing an unfairly low ceiling on what they can learn, achieve, accomplish, and ultimately become in life. With so much at risk, United Way’s 10-year vision, LIVE UNITED 2020, has embarked on a journey to ensure that 50,000 underperforming middle school kids enter high school ready to succeed. Woven together with our Income and Health Initiatives, the Education Initiative strives to provide our community’s children with the tools they need to thrive along their educational path.

In an effort to highlight the significant programs and non-profits focused around early childhood education in our community, the United Way Young Leaders Society (YLS) has brought together key leaders from Jumpstart, Carole Robertson Center, The Chicago Lighthouse and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago to participate in a speed networking event where participants can learn about the work done by these organizations, as well as United Way’s Education Initiative and the important role YLS plays in this work. Attendees will also learn about the ways in which they can get involved through these organizations to help our community’s children begin to succeed at an early age.

Please join us on January 31 at 6pm at PwC, located at 1 N. Wacker Drive. Refreshments and wine will be served, and Hannah’s Bretzel is generously providing über sandwiches, salads and desserts.

Click here to register for the event.

Photo Credit: Sarah Houghton

The season of giving is upon us once again, and this year, we would like to invite you to give back to your community by giving the gift of education to children across our region.

Education is the cornerstone of individual and community success and we know there is unstoppable power in the strength of a neighborhood when kids have the opportunities and resources they need to thrive in 2012 and beyond.

New Year. Bright Future. gives YOU the power to be an integral part of this social movement. Through United Way’s two education strategies: early childhood education and middle school transition into high school, we aim to transform the lives of 50,000 students across our region.

United Way’s 31 early childhood education programs across our region strive to ensure kids enter school with the skills they need to succeed. When you GIVE to United Way’s Education Initiative, children ages 0-5 receive quality childcare, family support and early intervention activities that allow them to start 2012 on the track to success.

United Way’s 26 middle school education programs across our region work to guarantee students transition to high school successfully and are on track to graduate. Middle school is where the rubber meets the road and if kids are behind when they enter the 9th grade, they are more likely to drop out of high school. When you GIVE to United Way’s Education Initiative, kids in 6^th-9^th grade receive the mentoring and tutoring they need to start 2012 off on the right track.

Visit the New Year. Bright Future. website here to donate to our Education Initiative and give the gift of education this year.