AT&T External Affairs employees came by the United Way for Greater Austin office to present their 2014 employee campaign corporate gift check for $70,000. AT&T invited several leaders from their Employee Resource Groups to attend the check presentation and learn more about our work in the Austin community. UWATX runs employee campaigns in more than 400 Austin-based businesses, and AT&T’s employee campaign ranks #5 in terms of how much they raise. City Council member Ora Houston stopped by to thank AT&T employees and UWATX for providing more opportunities to working poor families in Austin. Kevin Rogel, one of our former VPL students and now UWATX donor, thanked AT&T employees for their generosity and spoke about how he has benefitted from UWATX services and why he decided to become a donor after getting hired at his first job. After the check presentation and hearing from Kevin and Ora, the AT&T employees toured our Navigation Center and received an overview of the work done through 2-1-1 calls and Central Health. They learned about the biggest needs in our community, as seen from data from the more than 330,000 calls that are taken every year by our call specialists, and heard firsthand from the specialists about the importance of this call center. Randy Clawson, who leads the Veterans Employee Resource Group at AT&T, was especially inspired by Kevin’s story and the Navigation Center’s work. “I am looking forward to our 2015 campaign and continued partnership with United Way in hopes we can create […]
Read MoreVolunteer Feature: Mark Capehart, Kerbey Lane Cafe
Kerbey Lane Cafe puts smiles on people’s faces every day with their iconic delicious pancakes, but that’s not the only way they make Austin greater. Through their well-established philanthropic core values, Kerbey Lane Cafe emphasizes the importance of philanthropy by supporting for UWATX through running employee giving campaigns and setting up volunteer opportunities for their employees. From school beautification projects to displaying UWATX table tents at their restaurants, they do it all! Mark Capehart, KLC – Round Rock Community Ambassador, is a longtime committed UWATX volunteer. KLC restaurant managers go by the title of “Community Ambassador” and make corporate social responsibility a priority by engaging their team with volunteer opportunities. For years, Mark has been the philanthropic liaison for Kerbey Lane Cafe and helped coordinate the adoption of local child development centers that he and his staff volunteer at on a continuing basis. We are proud to have dedicated volunteers like Mark, so we sat down with him and asked him about his experiences leading Kerbey Lane Cafe’s volunteer efforts: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you began leading the volunteer efforts for Kerbey Lane Cafe? My interest is really selfish. I like to volunteer; I want to help out. Through this outlet, I am able to be very warmly received anywhere; when Kerbey Lane wants to volunteer, everybody gets excited about it. Having such willing and positive support from the company really makes so many opportunities possible. Planning and coordinating events with Nikki (UWATX Director of Volunteer Engagement) really makes the […]
Read MoreYou Know It’s Campaign Season When…
You probably hear the phrase “employee campaigns” from UWATX, but if you don’t work in a business that runs campaigns, this phrase can be quite confusing. Employee giving campaigns are how we receive many of our donations throughout the year. Our Development Officers visit multiple workplaces to inform employees about United Way for Greater Austin’s work, help set up fun activities to encourage employees to pledge and coordinate team-building volunteer activities. We make it easy to give in your workplace through payroll deductions; employees sign up during their campaign to give $5, $10 or more per each paycheck for the upcoming year. We asked UWATX Development Officers Heather and Keith to give us an idea of what campaign season feels like to them. Heather says: UWATX runs employee giving campaigns throughout the year, but August through October are the busiest months when most of our corporate partners promote giving to make Austin greater! With running campaigns comes numerous planning meetings, special events, embarrassing challenges, tables of food, jars of pennies and large campaign finales. It’s a great time and one that I and my fellow Development Officers enjoy. These are a few of the ways I know it’s that time of year: 1. Your phone is full of companies’ campaign event photos 2. Your car turns in to the campaign mobile 3. Your friends tell you to quit asking them for money 4. Your wallet always has 2-1-1 cards in it 5. You change your clothes three times in one day – […]
Read MoreInterview with Annie Ray, 2015 Campaign Brochure Photographer
We are excited to debut photos from our 2015 Campaign brochure themed “Your Guide to Philanthropy”. Here at UWATX, we believe that the act of giving is what unites our community together. Whether that is through a donation of time or money, we encourage you to build philanthropy in a way that works for you. We had the pleasure coordinating this project with two very talented women, photographer, Annie Ray, and designer, Kathy Horn. Annie Ray is an Austin-based lifestyle photographer who focuses on bringing out the “real stuff” in everything she shoots. She was voted Best Austin Photographer in 2010 and 2011 from the Austin Chronicle. Kathy is a copywriter and creative director who has a diverse skillset and creates print, broadcast and digital projects. Both Annie and Kathy collaborated with their photography and design skills to skillfully capture the uniqueness of the three special UWATX families that were featured in our Campaign brochures. Latara Clark discussed how volunteering has made a positive impact on her children’s lives and helps strengthen their morals(their photo can be seen on the featured image). James McDonough explains how United Way’s Employee Giving Campaign at his workplace made it easy for him to enroll in automatic payroll deduction and give back to his community. Marisela has witnessed firsthand how the Pre-K program funded by United Way for Greater Austin has been pivotal to her daughter’s development. We had the opportunity to chat with Annie and learn more about her passion for photography, as well as discuss some takeaways she had […]
Read MoreSuccess Story: Kevin Rogel
What do you think of when you hear the word “philanthropist?” This year’s theme for employee campaigns is to “put away your top hats and monocles” and that “anyone can be a philanthropist.” We believe that whether you give $5 a year or $500,000 a year, you are a philanthropist; it is your giving spirit and earnest attempt to better your community that grants you this fancy-sounding title. We could find no better example of this than Kevin Rogel, who graciously agreed to let us share his story. We met Kevin, 16, a few years ago when he was a student at Webb Middle School. He joined our Volunteer Project Leader group, which teaches middle school students to not only give back, but to design and lead their own volunteer projects. While on a tour of the middle school, H-E-B senior vice president Jeff Thomas heard Kevin speak about the program and was impressed with his confidence, philanthropic heart and always positive attitude. Thomas told Kevin later that day, “when you hit 16…look me up” for an open position awaiting him at H-E-B. Mere days after Kevin’s 16th birthday last April, Kevin filled out his application with the help of his mentor and UWATX Director of Volunteer Engagement, Nikki Kruger–and as Thomas promised, he was hired as a Customer Service Associate. Unfortunately, Kevin awoke a few days later in a hospital in San Antonio with more than 40% of his body covered in third-degree burns. While helping his mom cook, he slipped […]
Read MoreAccenture Employees Inspire Future Women Leaders
Accenture is one of the top consulting firms in the world that brings first-class business and technology strategy to companies and organizations to carry them into the future. Accenture employees invest in local solutions for our community as well by giving back their time to speak with students who are the future. Just before school let out for summer, the Women’s Employee Resource Group at Accenture took time away from their jobs to pay a special visit to the students at Decker Middle School. The Women’s ERG shared personal stories about their lives, their careers and how they got to where they are today with the students. Accenture employees first spoke with the Decker AVID Class about college readiness before eating lunch and discussing common interests with the Tech Girls Club. Accenture employees not only got to know the students they support through employee campaign better, but also got the chance to inspire each of them by sharing their own unique stories of how they became successful women in the corporate tech world. Katy Aus, UWATX’s Out-of-School Time Coordinator for Target Graduation, said: “Students see their future when professional volunteers come out. The Tech Girls Club all have aspirations of being women in the fast-paced tech field. Accenture volunteers are real models of that and show how you can reach this goal from all different paths.” Decker Middle School is located in Manor ISD and is one of three schools UWATX offers intervention and support services to students through the […]
Read MoreSpotlight: Claudia Franco
Meet Claudia Franco, the newest addition to our employee campaign team as the Corporate Relations Coordinator. Although she is new to the campaign team, she is not new to UWATX–she served as a Bilingual Navigation Specialist for one year, helping connect Hispanic Austinites in need to heath and human services. What is your background, both in the community and professionally, prior to working with United Way? I am originally from Lima, Peru. I moved to the United States when I was 11 years old. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in the McCombs School of Business, where I studied marketing and Spanish literature. Before working at UWATX, I worked at Austin Community College as a technical lab assistant and interned at KIS as a marketing designer. What drew you to UWATX and made you feel that it was the right fit for you? I always wanted to make an impact in someone’s life. After graduating from McCombs, I interned at KIS and it made me realize that the way to make a greater impact was by giving back to my community. After meeting with Pedro (Navigation Manager at UWATX), I was surprised on the ways UWATX has changed the lives of many people, and there was no doubt that I belonged here. How do you see your role at UWATX, and what do you hope to accomplish in this job? I would like to increase donations by engaging the Hispanic community. I want the Hispanic community to […]
Read MoreEmployee Campaign Leader of the Year 2014
Each year, we host the Employee Campaign Awards to recognize the donors and leaders who work hard to make employee campaigns successful at their workplaces. For the 2014 Employee Campaign Awards event last Friday, we added a new, very important award: Employee Campaign Leader of the Year. Employee campaign leaders are vital to the success of every employee giving campaign for United Way. We look forward to highlighting an outstanding “ECL” each year moving forward, and this year the very first award of this kind goes to Laura Seaton of Travis County. “It is a warm knowing that despite your own life trials and dramas, and we all have them, you have given something of yourself that truly has helped another human being feel a little whole again and a little less lost.” — Laura Seaton Laura Seaton lived and worked in public service for Maui County, but circumstances brought her to Austin, Texas where she started working in public service with Travis County in 2010. Laura participated in the United Way for Greater Austin campaign three years in row, and goes above and beyond carrying the message to every employee in her department, Transportation and Natural Resources, and across the county as an ECL. Laura takes her responsibility of being an ECL very seriously. She implements rigorous best practices, personalizes the campaign so each employee feels more connected and does it all with a smile. Laura was assigned to be an ECL, yet she loves the role. When asked […]
Read MorePartner Spotlight: JE Dunn Construction
JE Dunn Construction not only helped sponsor our Spring Day of Caring this year; employees also volunteered at El Buen Pastor Early Child Development Center by working on some much needed renovations and improvements. For the past year, JE Dunn has worked with United Way for Greater Austin to ensure that early childhood education centers are safe and up to date. JE Dunn Construction compiled an assessment team that visits centers and looks at structure, the rooms, mechanics, plumbing and electrical to make sure they are safe, in good repair and up to code. Once the assessment is complete, they provide UWATX and the center with a detailed assessment report which includes any issues, materials needed, and the approximate cost to fix. So far, they have assessed three early care and education centers in the Success By 6 Center Project and will continue to conduct assessments over the next months. Not only has JE Dunn taken the time to assess various centers, but also provided the labor and materials which many of these centers would not be able to afford otherwise. Because of cuts in state funding, toddler and infant funding has dropped to the 50th percentile. This decision puts providers in the difficult position of having to choose between investing in center services or in serving low-income families. Ayesha White, one of our SB6 Vistas, spoke to some of JE Dunn’s employees during SDOC about why they give back. Why is JE Dunn providing renovations for child care centers in the greater Austin Area? “JE Dunn is part […]
Read MoreFarmers Insurance Group Promotes Literacy in Dove Springs
Recent studies reveal that approximately 53 percent of fourth graders report reading recreationally almost every day – but that figure drops down to 20 percent by eighth grade. At United Way for Greater Austin, we invest in Middle School Matters through our Target Graduation program because we know that middle school is a critical tipping point for student success and that literacy development, supported by self-directed reading, is one of the cornerstones of academic achievement. Because the promotion of literacy is paramount to our mission, we’re thrilled to announce that Farmers Insurance Group generously funded a reading nook in the Mendez Middle School library! In partnership with UWATX, Farmers donated more than 100 high-interest book titles to the library collection and added beanbag chairs, festive rugs and pillows and other décor to make the space more inviting. Farmers volunteers also held an on-site competition to create posters highlighting the new books. On Thursday, March 12, Farmers volunteers spent the afternoon cataloguing the new books, arranging furniture, hanging posters and decorating the reading nook. The space was officially unveiled on Friday, March 13 at the Dove Springs Community Alliance meeting. Located in Dove Springs, a low-income neighborhood in southeast Austin, Mendez Middle School serves as a key community resource for local families. More than eighty five percent of students in this area are economically disadvantaged, which poses barriers to opportunity and academic success for many of them. By partnering with companies like Farmers Insurance Group, UWATX works to provide support for target campuses to move toward closing the […]
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