United Way for Southeastern Michigan

Promises, promises

It's got to be Derek Jeter, is what I thought when I heard a few years ago that a philanthropist who wanted to remain anonymous was donating millions of dollars to support the Kalamazoo Promise.

The Promise provides college tuition for residents of that west Michigan city who graduate from high school and head off to a college. An incredibly generous donor, supported by some other people with substantial cash to spare, anted up enough money to cover the cost of tuition at any Michigan community college or university for Kalamazoo high school graduates -- in perpetuity, according to administrators.

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Labels: Educational_Preparedness, Rodd_Monts

Share the Warmth with Panera Bread

Join Panera Bread on Jan. 28 as they Share the Warmth and celebrate their new coffee and expanded breakfast line. Get a free cup of coffee and samples of their grilled breakfast sandwiches and Strawberry Granola Parfaits at participating metropolitan Detroit bakery-cafes.

Customers are encouraged to support and donate funds to Panera's Operation Dough-Nation Community Breadbox program, a program that provides funds to the Greater United Way for Southeastern Michigan's work in Basic Needs. The Panera Bread bakery-cafes participating in the events on Jan. 28 will match the amount raised, up to $250 per location.

Find your local Panera Bread bakery-cafe at www.panerabread.com.

Trade in your aprons

As my sister and I used to bicker about when we were kids, there's an invisible force field. You can't see it, but you sure can't cross it either.

We all have these personal space issues that prevent us from truly connecting, and keep us in our own bubbles... [continue reading]

Labels: 211onthego, John_Azoni

By the numbers: 2009 King Day of Service

On the 2009 King Day of Service, and throughout the week of January 17th – 23rd, over 800 volunteers took part in volunteer-related service activities.

Volunteer time translated into community impact dollars = $62, 432 (as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Students from 5 regional colleges and universities participated. These schools include U of M-Dearborn, Lawrence Tech, Henry Ford Community College, Madonna University, Lawrence Tech and Oakland Community College.

24 community agencies opened up their doors to volunteers on this national day of service.

United Way had 4 new partners this year: Chrysler LLC, Panera Bread, and City Year Detroit.

Click here to view the photos.

Labels: Ursula_Adams, Volunteering

The latest on jobs for the homeless

There are a few great things happening for 2-1-1 On the Go! clients these days. We're still pushing for restaurant jobs, and we've made a few new friends at different establishments in the city - one of which turned into a full-time job for one of our clients, and the potential for more. In addition, we've added a new community partner, Saint Aloysius Church.

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Labels: 2-1-1, 211onthego, basic needs, John_Azoni

Public policy news for the new year

There has been a lot of activity in both the Michigan & U.S. Legislatures this past month! Thank you all for taking action and speaking out! Be sure to thank your elected officials that voted for the passage of this key legislation as well as the sponsors and co-sponsors.

Auto Loans
The Auto Industry Bridge Loan Act was not approved by members of Congress before the recessed for the holiday and ending the session of the 110th Congress. Realizing that immediate action was needed, President Bush permitted the use of $13.4 billion in Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds to be used for short-term, low-interest loans for GM & Chrysler, with another $4 billion pending in February (with approval from Congress).

Financial Literacy Bill (SB 834)
The bill that will allow financial literacy courses to count towards meeting the state’s high school graduation requirements has been signed into law and is now Public Act 316 of 2008.

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Labels: advocate

Easy way to volunteer: Sign-Up for Impact Your Neighborhood

For many of us, making a long-term commitment to volunteer can be an overwhelming task. I know from personal experience that it can be a struggle even to spend an hour or two volunteering when your days are full of work, appointments, getting fit and having a social life.

That's one of the many reasons I am proud that Panera Bread of Southeast Michigan (a client of mine at my PR agency) has teamed up with United Way to encourage us all to take the time to give back to our community.

Click here to continue reading.

Labels: Volunteering

Pizza, fried chicken and grandparents in Taiwan

Dave Brandon, CEO of Domino's Pizza, tells a story about his company's efforts to add franchises in Taiwan. They did all of their research and opened their stores, but market penetration was well off projections. They couldn't figure it out. Parents loved the pizza. Kids loved the pizza. But not enough people were ordering it.

Brandon states, "We studied and researched it. We studied and researched it. And nothing changed. Finally, we realized that grandparents in Taiwan often lived with their children and grandchildren, and they were exercising veto power over the pizza choice. Turns out, grandparents didn't like pizza too much, but they do like fried chicken, so now all of our stores in Taiwan also sell fried chicken."

Continue reading.

Labels: Michael_Tenbusch, nonprofit_innovations

Education and ethics

I overheard a friend of a friend recount an interesting story about the difficulty he and his wife were having trying to provide a quality education for their child.

They live in suburban Detroit, and wanted their child to go to a school in a well-regarded district. The problem was their district of choice was not the one they lived in, but rather a district with a top-rated high school that happened to be located a few municipalities away.

That was okay, they figured, they would rent an apartment in their targeted district thereby establishing residency. Well, sort of. In actuality they were merely securing an address, for which they paid somewhere in the ballpark of $7,000-$10,000 a year. They figured it was worth that much to send their child to a school that they were certain would provide a quality education.

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Labels: Educational_Preparedness, Rodd_Monts

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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Promises, promises

Monday, January 26, 2009