DaMara Alexander has participated in at least 14 volunteer projects with UWATX, adding up to more than 50 hours of service. She works as an underwriter at Farmers Insurance, one of our most dedicated and philanthropic corporate partners, and has lived in Austin her entire life. She has been very involved with our Days of Caring, Family Volunteer Days, and with our Middle School Matters work at all three campuses. DaMara began volunteering as a kid, and now tries to involve her own family in volunteer project as often as possible. “I’ve always tried to help those around me, even if just in my neighborhood. I’m blessed on so many levels and believe in blessing others.” –DaMara Alexander “I first began volunteering in elementary/middle school by going to nursing homes and things like that. I’ve always tried to help those around me, even if just in my neighborhood. I’m blessed on so many levels and believe in blessing others. I’ve been the recipient of kind actions, and I feel kindness and help goes a long, long way. I’m thankful for all that I have and all that I’m able to do. “My favorite volunteer events are the UWATX Family Volunteer events. I try to involve those around me as much as possible, and these events are not only helpful but also so much FUN!” In addition to serving as an individual, DaMara gives back with coworkers as well. Farmers Insurance has its own volunteer committee called Farmers Cares Community Corps (FCCC). […]
Read MoreInternational Women’s Day Spotlight: Amy Green-Hinojosa
Today is International Women’s Day, a day where women around the world are celebrated for their social, economic, cultural and political achievements. The origins of this day date back to 1908, when female oppression and inequality inspired women to become more vocal and active about gaining better pay and voting rights. We now celebrate this day globally in various ways, ranging from festivals, concerts, female-driven tech conferences and more. This year, we are celebrating by highlighting one of UWATX’s longtime female supporters, Amy Green-Hinojosa. Not only is Amy a dedicated Women’s Leadership Council member, but she is also an Employee Campaign Leader at her workplace, Texas Mutual. As an Employee Campaign Leader, Amy plays a critical role in leading and inspiring her co-workers and employees to give back to our community through campaign. It is investors, volunteers and community leaders like Amy, and their continuous support, that allow our organization to thrive and make Austin greater. We took some time to chat with Amy about her background and involvement with UWATX and why she is invested in this community. How long have you been involved with United Way and in what capacities? I have been contributing to United Way since I began my adult career, first in California, then here in Texas. I have been an ECL many times in my career. I was active in the Austin Young Leaders Society in my younger days ,and then I transitioned to the WLC. I served on the Executive Committee of WLC for a few […]
Read MoreDonor Champions United Way After Receiving Years of Support
Lisa Suarez is the campaign leader for UPS, as well as a leadership giver and Women’s Leadership Council member. While every donor has a different reason driving them to give, Lisa’s longstanding relationship with United Way has transformed over time uniquely, as she started as a services recipient before turning into a donor. Lisa grew up in a low-income family that moved frequently due to the financial hardships they were faced with. “It really is a vicious cycle. I was never encouraged to go to college even though I was a straight ‘A’ student. That’s just not the priority in low-income neighborhoods…just living day to day is the priority, so most people don’t have the means or even the knowledge to encourage their kids to try to do more and break the cycle. As your grow up, you do what you are familiar with and begin to look for jobs that just get you by. You do what you’ve grown up seeing from your parents–the minimum–because that’s all they knew too.” “My life would have been completely different without United Way. It’s afforded me a life that I didn’t come from and didn’t think was possible for me, and I looked back and realized United Way got me where I am today. I haven’t reached all of my goals in life yet, but now I know that I’m capable of doing it–and I didn’t know that before.” –Lisa Suarez “People think those in need aren’t trying for themselves. When you […]
Read More3M Named Top UWATX Employee Campaign
Yesterday one of Austin’s largest companies, 3M, was recognized as United Way for Greater Austin’s (UWATX) number one Employee Giving Campaign. 3M’s total giving amounts to $1,048,341, which includes both employee giving and corporate dollars. UWATX fosters philanthropy in Austin by facilitating giving campaigns, such as this one at 3M, so employees may easily give back to their community with a donation to UWATX or another nonprofit organization of their choice. On June 8, 2015, a 24-hour campaign was held to honor the start of the UWATX campaign. All donations made on that day were doubled by a 3M corporate match of $2 for every $1. Through the remainder of June, 3M matched additional employee pledges $1 for $1. From July 1 through October 31, pledges were matched $0.50 to every $1. In total, 3M employees pledged $347,248.95 in support of local charitable organizations, including UWATX. “3Mers, starting with our executive management and spreading throughout the entire organization, are absolutely committed to the importance of giving back,” Amy Sanders, 3M’s UWATX Campaign Chair, said. “If everyone is willing to stretch a little to give to those less fortunate, collectively, we can have a huge impact on our communities. Because we partner with UWATX, we are confident that the money raised will go to those most in need.” 3Mgives, the company’s philanthropic and volunteerism arm, strives to improve every life through innovative giving in education, community and the environment. UWATX’s efforts parallel 3M’s goal by shaping a community where all individuals can […]
Read MoreSamsung, BuildASign Nominated for Philanthropy Awards
Our corporate partner Samsung Austin Semiconductor was nominated for the “Outstanding Philanthropic Large Organization” award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) this year. The company will be honored for this achievement at the Philanthropy Day awards ceremony on February 4th, 2016. Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s General Counsel and Senior Director of Public Affairs, Catherine Morse, who also serves as UWATX Board Chair, spoke to us about the accomplishment and how Samsung’s long-term investment in UWATX played a large part in the company being recognized for this award. “We feel good about this award because we have a focused philanthropic effort on early childhood education, youth development, STEM education and environmental sustainability,” Morse said. “By far, our largest partner for the past five years has been United Way.” Samsung was nominated for this award by UWATX, Open Door Preschools and Breakthrough Austin. In 2010, Samsung Austin Semiconductor made a $1 million donation to our Success By 6 program. Since then, more than 200 families have benefitted from the program and numerous high-quality preschool programs have been opened as a result. “As a community investor, we really want to focus on evidence based-programming and that’s what sets United Way apart from other nonprofits. UWATX is a good steward of Samsung’s dollars because they measure outcomes of programs and hold other nonprofits accountable for the work they do. It doesn’t make much sense to invest in things that just ‘feel good,’ but things that work and result in better outcomes for the community. […]
Read MoreLocal Companies Sponsor Families For the Holidays
The holiday season is a favorite time of the year for many of us. It’s not the presents or bright lights or parties that make the season, but rather the warm feeling we get from remembering what is most important in life: gratitude, friendship, family, community, fellowship and feeling cared for. During the holiday season United Way for Greater Austin receives an outpouring of generosity from the community through volunteer efforts, donations and overall holiday joy. We too like to take part in that joy by partnering with companies to sponsor and thank the families who are featured in our marketing materials throughout the year. Thanks to the generosity of both NXP (formerly known as Freescale) and Atlassian, ten families were “adopted” this year for the holidays. Employees from NXP and Atlassian contributed their own personal dollars to purchase and wrap gifts for each family member. Gifts included toys from personal wish lists, clothing, shoes and household items, including TVs and iPads. Many of the families asked for simple necessities, such as baking dishes and coats for the kids. “At NXP, giving back is part of our DNA. We are proud to partner with the United Way to support making the holidays special for nine families in the greater Austin area. Our employees have really stepped up this year to support more families and try to make a difference in Austin.” –Rick Morales, NXP In addition, KPMG gave each family a holiday meal kit so that families could share a warm and […]
Read MoreSpotlight: Jon Eckert, Comerica Bank
Support of the United Way is Comerica Bank’s largest annual philanthropic effort. And in Austin, 100% of Comerica employees are philanthropists. In Texas, Comerica raised $666,738 with more than 99% of employees participating. In Austin specifically, the bank’s employees topped that with 100% participation. All 90 Austin employees donated a total of more than $24,000. Plus, they worked together to raise an additional $1,500 through a silent auction. We spoke with Jon Eckert, Comerica Bank’s Senior Vice President and Group Manager of Business Banking in Austin, who again served as lead of this year’s Comerica UWATX campaign. We asked him how he got involved with United Way and to describe the efforts that inspired every Austin employee to participate. How and when did you get involved in serving the United Way in Austin? Soon after I started with Comerica in 2012, Pat Faubion (our Texas Market President at the time) asked me if I would help by leading the Austin effort. Of course, I didn’t hesitate to reply with an enthusiastic “yes!” Several years ago, after visiting some of the United Way agencies that they serve, I saw and heard firsthand how the United Way helps so many people. It was then that I truly became emotionally involved in the cause. That’s why I continue to step up to lead the campaign for Austin every year. Seeing our consistent participation year after year, it’s evident that my Austin colleagues feel the same way. What inspires you to continue to be involved? Like […]
Read MoreSpotlight: Russell Bridges, 3M
3M is one of UWATX’s Top 15 campaigns, meaning they pledge among the most in terms of dollars during their employee giving campaigns out of our more than 400 partners. We also have a dedicated “3M closet” at UWATX offices, which 3M graciously stocks with office supplies for the whole year. We are grateful for the generosity of 3M employees in general and especially to Russell Bridges, Government and Community Affairs Manager at 3M in Austin and one of UWATX’s best advocates. Russell has served as our 3M campaign contact since 2000. He has hosted special events, promoted our giving societies, identified 3M members as board members, coordinated volunteer activities and served on United Way committees. This year, 3M held one Day of Giving on June 8 to kick off their campaign in which the corporation pledged to match any employee pledges 2 to 1. Additionally, all employee pledges made in June were matched 1 to 1, and all pledges made through the end of campaign were matched .50 to 1. In just the one Day of Giving, employees pledged $323,463, providing an additional corporate match of $646,926. This means 3M raised almost $1 million for Greater Austin in only one day! We asked Russell why he has been involved with UWATX for so long and to give us an inside look at what makes the 3M campaign so successful each year. How long have you been involved with United Way and in what capacities? Many years ago, I […]
Read MoreWho Inspires You to Be a Philanthropist?
We asked UWATX employees to dress up as the person who inspires them to give back during our internal employee giving campaign kickoff this year. Sue: “The Directors and Executive Directors of the early childhood programs with whom we partner. They work so hard to support children and families — and they do not get the recognition they deserve.” Orsi: “I am inspired to give back because of my hard working coworkers. I am inspired by their passion to help others and their commitment to making Austin greater.” Courtney: “Everyday before I went to school my dad always told me to “be a good person today.” Working in a job that allows me to do that everyday is beyond fulfilling.” Leah: “My amazing team of talented individuals. Each and every one of them brings fresh energy, passion and expertise to tackle an area of need in our community.” Laura: “Leah inspires me to be a philanthropist because of her example of generosity of spirit and her dedication to her work and her family. As a working mother, Leah is a model of work/life balance. She daily demonstrates a commitment to making life better for families in her community. Her energy, creativity, and leadership inspire me to give back.” Nikki: “Vanessa is the Wizard of Oz of UWATX. Her job is internal facing (behind the curtain making the magic happen!) ensuring we have the systems, tools and processes to be successful. Boom!” Vanessa: “Nikki’s passion and ability […]
Read MoreUWATX Internal Campaign
You likely know by now that many of our donations come from Austin-based businesses running employee giving campaigns by asking their employees to give a bit of each paycheck back to UWATX. But did you know that United Way for Greater Austin runs our own internal employee giving campaign too? That’s right–we don’t just talk the talk of being philanthropists, we pledge to pledge! We held fun activities to inspire our employees to give, including Twin Day (dress up like the person who inspires you to be a philanthropist), Represent Your Favorite Sports Team Day (complete with trivia and prizes) and Campaign Cool Down (in which we got to wear comfy workout clothes to the office and had a group stretch). Our own UWATX employees pledged to donate more than $23,000 out of their paychecks over the past few days back to United Way programs. As this year’s internal campaign kicked off, we asked our team leads what it was like to run a campaign in an organization that already gives so much. Our Resource Development team travels around town every day helping businesses run their employee giving campaigns, but how does this differ when it’s your own coworkers? Check out their answers to get some inspiration and tips when it comes to running your own campaign: When you signed up to be a part of organizing the United Way for Greater Austin campaign, what were your initial thoughts? Jeffrey King: Very excited! This was a learning experience and an […]
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