Executive Director's Message

LIVE UNITED™ - Give. Advocate. Volunteer

8/1/2008

In previous columns, you have read about our three main fields of interest: Education, Income and Health. You have also been told about our three core business values: Ask, Thank, Inform. Now, here is our final lesson in how to LIVE UNITED™ .

Give. Advocate. Volunteer. If you are looking to see what you can do to benefit the common good in your community, there it is. Give. Advocate. Volunteer. Wondering how your company can get involved in the community where its workers live? Give. Advocate. Volunteer. What is the best way for a teacher to show how students can connect to their town? Give. Advocate. Volunteer. How can I help in this tight economy? Give… I think you know the rest.

Give. There probably are few people who do not connect the United Way Community Campaign with giving. It is the mother and model of modern fundraising. It is also the way we affect the common good. My dollar connected with your dollar connected with other dollars can do more to change the community than my dollars alone. Reach out a hand to one, and influence the condition of all. Giving in this way consolidates our effort in the community and ensures a strong response to community issues. Never underestimate what your investment can accomplish when it is combined with the investments of others on the same issue.

If you believe that you understand the core interests of LIVE UNITED™, then lend your voice. Advocate. If you think that one person joining a dollar to others is powerful, then what about one voice joined with others? We live in a time where causes are advertised and treated as consumables. Rather than rail against the idea that such treatment does not fit, look at your advocacy for a cause as your way of advertising something that is important to the community, to the individual and to you. Advocacy is the verbal equivalent of your financial commitment (and vice versa). Consider the weight you can bring to an issue by both giving and advocating for it.

However, some things need you in a way that is more concrete than advocacy. Volunteer. When you put your time where your heart, mind and money are, you are saying by doing. Lending your muscle to make sure that a playscape is painted and has a soft, forgiving surface surrounding it is your way of saying that kids deserve better and you are willing to do what it takes to give it to them. It’s interesting that one thing both presidential candidates agree on is the importance of volunteerism and both are planning to speak at a national conference on volunteerism in September. In Meriden and Wallingford, over 300 volunteers will spend time at 16 sites showing what can happen when they LIVE UNITED™ on our Day of Caring.

Over the next few months, we will have plenty of time and space to discuss the particulars of Give. Advocate. Volunteer. Hopefully, you will choose one of them in which to excel. Ideally, you will see a role for yourself in all three. That’s what it means to LIVE UNITED™


Tell us how you LIVE UNITED™ . Call us at 203-235-4403.

7/1/2008
LIVE UNITED™ - Local Models
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9/1/2008
LIVE UNITED™ - Campaign Kickoff!
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