Executive Director's Message

LIVE UNITED™ - Campaign Kickoff!

9/1/2008

We have finally done it and kicked off our 2009 LIVE UNITED™ Community Campaign. Ask. Thank. Inform. Education. Income. Health. Give. Advocate. Volunteer. It is all in place and now we need to braid them together in a community campaign that makes them real.

Real? If you are questioning what planet I am on or if I have read the news lately, I am here on Earth and I read every day. I have also been known to answer the office phone (admittedly, not one of my better skills) so I do know what is going on in this community. The facts of this fragile economy and what it means do not escape me. What they do, though, is tell me that there has never been a better time to launch a campaign under the mantra of  LIVE UNITED™. If we ever needed to be reminded that when one of us does well, others benefit, too, it is now.

The easy thing would be to focus on and to write about what I just paid for a gallon on gasoline, how much the price of milk has increased and what happened to my planned retirement date (not to mention the hoped-for income). Easy, yes. Effective, I don’t think so. What happens to me does not affect only me. The ripple of an empty oil tank and a loaf of bread priced as if it were made from a precious metal upset the whole pond. Since the ideas behind LIVE UNITED™ are at a much higher level, our activities need to be as well. The operative verb for our campaign is “raise” whether it be money, awareness or, hopefully, both. Practically, that means that we look at the “many” instead of at the “one.”

The mission of this United Way is to make positive and lasting changes in the way we live in Meriden and Wallingford. If prosperity and growth are the ways to do this in this larger community, then it must be prosperity and growth for all and it must last. In very concrete ways, we need to demonstrate that we are willing to take on the issue for all since it will be fruitless if only a few are affected and, certainly, will not help us to make lasting and positive changes. Any money that comes from my paycheck into this campaign is done so to invest in the prosperity and growth of all if us. If it were just about me, then I’d keep the money. Moreover, the difference between what I invest in the campaign and what it would take to make me alone prosper is far in excess if that amount. LIVE UNITED™ works because my investment combined with those of others accomplishes far more than my investment could do alone whether it be for me or for the community.

Confused? Think about it this way: each one of us together can do something powerful for the common good. It is the principle on which we base our democracy. It is also the key to channeling the kind of energy it will take to conquer this economy and ensure that all of us enjoy the privileges of this community. Just as it didn’t take one bad mortgage or one barrel of $120 oil to push us to the edge, it will not be fixed by one of us alone. Together, though, that’s a very different story and outcome.

We are looking forward to this LIVE UNITED™ Community Campaign because it gives all of us the opportunity to show what happens when we all agree on something and want to work toward it. Whether it is one million dollars or one million hours, it will not work without one hundred percent of us.

Join us and LIVE UNITED™. Call us at 203-235-4403.

8/1/2008
LIVE UNITED™ - Give. Advocate. Volunteer
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10/8/2008
LIVE UNITED™ - The Economy
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