The "Pop a Balloon" Thing. . .Big Hit

The "Pop a Balloon" game. . .big hit. We sold all 1,000 balloons in a day. I could have sold another 1,000. A little labor intensive (get an air compressor to help!). . .but a lot of fun.
Good luck with your campaigns. Thanks for supporting United Way!
Dave

My (Novartis) Campaign

Well, I'm in the thick of the Novartis campaign. One thing we're doing is "Buy a Balloon, Pop it and (Hopefully) Win a Prize. We blew up a 1,000 balloons today. . .

We did actually have a lot of fun . . .and we did have compressed air. I hope that all of you in middle of your campaigns are successful. I hope you're having a some fun. Thanks for all of your efforts! Dave

Ameritas -- Great Job!

I had the pleasure to go to a couple of the Ameritas United Way activities, both at their "Cotner & O St" and "Fallbrook" locations. Here are some pictures. . . These 1st two are from the Fallbrook Carnival. Wouldn't you like to do that to your supervisor. . . and for only $1?




The other pictures are from the Cotner and O "Ameritas Idol" Competition. It was standing room only. They followed the entertainment with an ice cream social for their associates.

Both the Carnival and the Idol were alot of fun, with great participation at both site locations. And these are just two examples of the many activities (large and small) that Ameritas incorporates into their UW campaigns that make them both successful and entertaining.

I have a lot more pictures, and Ameritas has lot of more great ideas to share. If you're interested in learning more about how to set up an Idol competition or how to cover your supervisor in whipped cream, contact either your United Way campaign representative or me. We'll get you in contact with the Ameritas team to learn more, or to help with other ideas to make your campaign successful.

GREAT WORK AMERITAS! And thanks to you all for supporting United Way! Dave

Success Story

This is one of the many "Success Stories" available to share with your site employees during your campaign. Success stories, bullet points, etc. can be found at both the United Way website and the Community Health Services website (links to each in the right-hand column of my blog). You can also call your campaign representative (or me) for assistance.

Thanks for supporting United Way! Dave

School Community Intevention Program - Lincoln Medical Education Partnership

The following success story was shared by the SCIP Team Leader at one of the Lincoln Public High Schools.

“Late Friday afternoon (January 4, 2008) one of the office personnel brought a visitor to my classroom. I recognized him right away. He was a student at East High back when we were a 7-12 school. I had worked with this young man for six years, both in the classroom and with numerous SCIP interventions. He dropped out of school periodically, but finally graduated in 1990. During those years as a student at East, this young man struggled with alcohol and other drugs. Some years after he graduated, I bumped into him outside a restaurant and asked him what he was doing. He responded that he was drinking himself to death. So sad.

Well, this student came to see me January 4th. He came to let me know that he remembered that comment and he wanted me to know that he has been clean and sober for five years. He goes to NA and AA meetings, has a good job, and owns a nice house. He thanked me for all the conversations we had those many years ago. He didn’t forget anything and in his own words, ‘It took me awhile to figure it out.’ Change doesn’t always happen while students are still with us. The young man’s story is just a good reminder that what we do is so important and often pays off long after the kids have moved on.”

This success story is a fine example of how United Way is “investing in Lincoln’s future: our children.” Helping children and youth succeed through both education and mentoring are the focus areas within the Invested Outcomes established as priorities for United Way. It also illustrates how SCIP services fit into the JBC Behavioral Health Impact Area. We don’t often learn an outcome so many years after the services, but we know that behavioral health is slow to change. As we continually tell our SCIP Teams, intervention is a process, not an act. The process of continual interventions turned this young man’s life in the right direction, one of successful self-actualization.

Pacesetter Event Photo -- Please Note the Shirts!

Julie Nelson (State Farm) and Anne Golden (Time Warner) show off their "We Live United" T-Shirts at the Pacesetter Coordinator Training event held at Lincoln Country Club on June 19.

Here's one picture from the Pacesetter Coordinator Training Event held at Lincoln Country Club on June 19th. Julie and Anne are showing off the new "We Live United" t-shirts.

These t-shirts are available to use in your campaign. At my site, the campaign committee will have t-shirts to wear at the kick-off meeting and during the campaign. We're also going to give a few away as prizes.

If you're interested in working the t-shirts into your campaign contact Randy Borecky at Art F/X Graphics. Phone 421-2611. These shirts are a quality t-shirt and they go for just $8/shirt. They also have a very nice collared polo available (in white and red) with United Way and Community Health Charities logos embroidered onto the sleeve. These shirts would be great if you need to "dress up" your campaign a bit. I know we all work in varying degrees of work attire environments. This polo would completely fly as an appropriate shirt for me to wear at work. The polo sells for $20.

So far I've own a red and a white polo. My t-shirt is on order. Some people shop at Dillards. Some shop at Kohls. Me -- I shop from the United Way Fall Collection.

Thanks, Dave

My Campaign

Well. . . my site campaign (Novartis) kicks off in about a week and a 1/2. Amazing what is required when you get down to crunch time, isn't it? It doesn't matter if you run a large or small campaign, there is ton of stuff to get done.

It really helps to have a campaign committee that is enthusiastic, and more than willing to "share the load". We had a committee meeting yesterday. Just running through the slate of activities is alot to do. . .making sure proper communication is in place (bulletin boards, e-mail, inter-departmental mailings), talking through a new activity -- looking for potential pitfalls, in a sense road testing the activity to make sure it goes off well . . .

Quick aside. . .who would think "Pop the Balloon for a $1 and Win a Prize" could be that complicated? Well, it is . . .and it isn't. Here is a sampling of what we talked through. . ."What are we going to use for prizes? How many are we going to make? How do we do this across three shifts? How big of a balloon are we going to use? Are we blowing up all of those balloons by hand?!??! I can blow up a balloon, but I can't tie a balloon. Can someone tie the balloons I blow up for me?". . . ah, the joys of a campaign. . .

That said. . .it isn't that difficult. . .and it is that difficult. These are things that are part of running a campaign. I know (and I know that most/all of you know) that working through the logistics is important. Even the simple requires effort.

So, if nothing else, please know that you're not alone out there, and WE KNOW that any/all activities require thought, planning. . .WORK. It's work. But it's good work. Rewarding work. And hopefully, work that pays off. . . in terms of providing funds for agency programs, that make Lincoln a better place to live. And with a little luck, we feel good about it too.

I'll be sure to let you know how "Pop the Balloon for a $1 and Win a Prize" works out. Some of the prizes are simply a note that will say, "Thanks for Supporting United Way!" But that's a prize that's already included with every dollar donated.

Good luck in the days and weeks ahead. Remember help is just a phone call/e-mail away. Thanks. And thanks for supporting United Way!

Dave

Back on the Bus!

For those of you who check in to this site with some frequency. . .my apologies. I'm going to take a couple minutes from United Way and "share" for a moment. For me, sharing really means rambling. . .and I'm a pro at it.

Ok. . .so, great kick-off event at Lincoln Country Club for Pacesetter Coordinators. My take on it was great participation, super energy, free t-shirts. . . and on a Thursday to boot. How great is that? For those of you able to attend, thanks so much.

So that was Thursday, June 19th. On Saturday, June 21st I left for Shanghai for work.

Views of Pearl Tower (famous landmark) and across Huangpu River over to the Bund. Shanghai is like NYC, on steriods.

Good trip, although full of delays. In case you're wondering what brings a schmuck like me to China, I work in Strategic Sourcing (fancy word for Purchasing) at Novartis. My degree is in pharmacy, and I work for sourcing raw materials for the products we manufacture here in Lincoln. China is one of the many markets we look at. Anyway. . .Got home late Saturday, June 28th. . .actually was early Sunday, June 29th. I was delayed because although I was ready to come home, one of my bags decided to spend the night in Denver.

So back to work on Monday, June 30th. Walked around in a haze for 3 days, falling asleep at work and then up all night at home (there's a 13 hour time difference between Lincoln and Shanghai). Then my employer graciously (yea Novartis!) gave us a 4 day weekend for the 4th of July, and I took Monday and Tuesday (July 7 & 8) as vacation. So now it's Wednesday, July 9th. . .and I'm way behind the 8-ball, with both work and United Way. The Novartis kick-off is 2 and 1/2 weeks away!

So. . .I'm getting back on the bus. I was able to sit in on an Eastmont Towers campaign meeting today. They're running a new campaign this year. . .and their excitement and involvement was just the jump start I needed.

I'll send out another note shortly . . .from the bus!

Thanks. And as always, big thanks for supporting United Way. Dave