A year of success and progress

By Cindy Dietz

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The 2010 United Way of East Central Iowa (UWECI) Campaign recently concluded after raising a record $10,512,000. Such a fantastic achievement is made possible by great support from businesses and their employees, lots of new contributors, many wonderful events and fundraising activities.

Thank you! The contribution total was $96,000 above our previous record, set in 2008.

In addition to helping fund 40 partner agencies and programs like United Way 2-1-1, RSVP and Born Learning, UWECI is coordinating volunteer

efforts that delivered more than 103,000 hours of service to east central Iowa.

When campaign dollars are combined with the value of volunteer hours and sponsorships, United Way mobilized over $12.7 million in 2010 to build stronger communities and help our most vulnerable residents.

Last year, we also set five community goals to increase: the number of low-income kindergartners who are ready for school by 50 percent; the number of low-income youth with 21st-century skills by 25 percent; the number of financially stable households by

15 percent; healthy choices by 10 percent; and the number of older adults who are able to meet their daily needs by 25 percent.

A few of the ways United Way contributed to building stronger communities last year:

l Education - Investments in early childhood care and development, family support and parent education helped 496 young children demonstrate developmentally appropriate skills and 350 parents of young children gain the knowledge and skills to promote their children's successful development. Another 2,679 youth demonstrated improved academic abilities and 3,763 youth demonstrated positive leadership qualities.

l Income stability - 7,217 homeless or near-homeless individuals accessed shelter or housing services; 1,142 free tax returns were filed, returning $1.8 million to low-income households.

l Healthy communities - 35,442 youth participated in activities that increased their knowledge of healthy behaviors and 11,517 individuals and families received mental health and/or substance abuse treatment. We work with agencies to measure the results of their programs and make sure there is a great return on every dollar we invest.

United Way is the easiest, most powerful way to invest in our communities. It takes everyone in the community working together to create a brighter future, to accomplish more than we can alone.

That's what it means to LIVE UNITED!

Cindy Dietz of Rockwell Collins is United Way of East Central Iowa Board chair. Comments: www.uweci.org