Newsroom

CLS Partners Amplify St. John’s

We love when our business partners get creative with their campaigns. CLS Partners organized their spring campaign around “amplifying St. John’s” in order to help us further promote our participating in Amplify Austin. CLS Partners kicked off their second UWATX employee campaign last week during Amplify Austin Day on March 5th. They made a corporate gift of $1,500 during Amplify, and employees spent the latter part of the 24-hour give-a-thon volunteering at Pickle Elementary in the St. John’s neighborhood. Some volunteers worked outside in Pickle Elementary’s numerous gardens, weeding, laying mulch and replanting. Others worked in the library, categorizing and shelving new books and reading to more than 40 children. They also fixed bulletin boards throughout the school and created a healthy eating information area in the cafeteria. CLS Partners accumulated 42 hours of volunteer service on Amplify Austin Day, equaling $982 of value added to the St. John’s community. CEO and President Clint Scott said CLS Partners gives to United Way for Greater Austin because our mission aligns with the company’s core values. “Creating a great work environment and encouraging employee engagement is an integral strategy of our CLS Partners ‘People Philosophy,’” Scott said. “That’s why we choose to partner with United Way to offer our employees the opportunity to give back by giving time and resources. CLS Partners contributed 1.5% of our annual revenue to charity in 2014, and we’re committed to continuing that tradition this year.”     Last year, CLS Partners donated nearly $16,000 to UWATX through employee […]

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Helping Families is the Greatest Gift

We are continuously humbled by the generosity and philanthropy that our Greater Austin community demonstrates throughout the year, especially during the holiday season. You may know the Maldonados, Salazars and Wynns from our blog and campaign materials. These families graciously allow us to tell their stories to personalize the issues surrounding affordability in Austin that many of our neighbors are struggling with. Thanks to the thoughtful efforts of companies that run United Way for Greater Austin Employee Giving Campaigns, our three UWATX feature families received a sleigh-full of goodies to trim their trees, which were donated by Target. Generous companies including Atlassian and Freescale purchased and wrapped gifts for members of each family, which included age-appropriate toys, household items and clothing. One anonymous donor even provided a $300 gift card to a local grocery store for each family. Donors provided gifts for the families that can go under the tree, and some that will continue to occur long after the lights and ornaments are packed away. Gatti’s Pizza has pledged monthly pizza and sides to each family for an entire year. Many working-poor families in the Greater Austin area are struggling just to make ends meet. The pressure of the holidays creates an even more complex situation for members of our community who have very little to spare. According to the most recent census data, poverty and low-income rates have steadily increased for children under 6 years of age in the Manor area where the Maldonados live. The number of renters is also […]

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Happy Birthday, Judge Biscoe!

Happy birthday, Judge Sam Biscoe! Judge Biscoe has served as Travis County Court judge since 1998, and will retire when his term ends this December. He served on the United Way for Greater Austin Board of Directors for many years, and recognizes the common goals UWATX and the county have to help those in our community who need it most. In addition to becoming the first African-American Travis County Court judge, he helped implement several programs benefitting county residents, including a youth summer employment program and extended-day program for middle school students. “I would personally appreciate your helping me transition into retirement knowing we gave generously to needy persons in our community.” – Judge Sam Biscoe He has been a voice of reason and mission for our community, and has consistently advocated for families living in rural areas surrounding Austin. He invests his own resources thoughtfully, and additionally, asks that his employees also engage in philanthropy. Every year, he runs a Combined Charities employee campaign, in which Travis County employees pledge to contribute a portion of their individual salary to over 300 charities in the Austin community, including UWATX. For his birthday on November 5, Judge Biscoe requests donations to his campaign in lieu of purchasing a gift. He ran his most successful campaign in 2009 by raising over $200,000. As this year will be his final employee campaign, Judge Biscoe’s goal is to set a new record for the amount of money raised and hopes it will be his most prosperous campaign yet! If you are […]

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Fall Day of Caring: A volunteer’s perspective

Some might think that going out to work in a garden the day after torrential rains would be a not-so great idea. How much mud are you going to encounter? Will the flower beds and vegetable patches be flooded? Will it be gross? Those are some of the questions that might come up. It had rained pretty hard the night before the Austin American-Statesman volunteers were scheduled to volunteer in the JJ Pickle Elementary School garden. Because of this, we showed up in rain boots and rain coats, hats and hooded jackets. By the time we arrived at the school, there were menacing clouds gathering again in the sky, but these provided a great cover for us as we gathered our tools and listened to the instructions for the day. Our volunteer leader, Judith Hutchinson, greeted us with coffee and donuts. She was happy to see that we arrived in a school bus—very appropriate for our volunteering location. We huddled in front of the bus for a picture, and then we were off to the gardens. Judith showed us where all the tools were and gave us plenty of options of where to start and what to improve. There was more than enough enthusiasm to go around. Plenty of fresh green weeds to pull from the raised vegetable beds, and soft, crumbly dirt to turn over with a shovel. We emptied a pond in order to make room for fresh water, trimmed flower bushes and made sure the sprouting vegetables […]

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UWATX Exemplifies Employee Giving

At United Way for Greater Austin, we believe that anyone- regardless of income- can be a philanthropist. Through Employee Giving Campaigns, UWATX provides an opportunity for employees at area businesses to donate a portion of every paycheck to make a positive impact.  We wouldn’t ask others to give if we didn’t give ourselves. UWATX is one of 400+ Austin-area businesses that run an Employee Campaign. Our Building Spirit Committee worked on the logistics behind a week of fun-filled, spirit-building activities to encourage employee participation. This year, campaign focused on the three Austin neighborhoods were our work is centered: Manor, St. John’s and Dove Springs. In planning this week of spirited activities, our goal was to incorporate the neighborhoods that benefit from the donations.   Get everyone excited before campaign starts The week before our campaign, the Spirit Committee hid two sets of Michael Buble concert tickets in the office and sent out an email to staff containing riddles on where to find them. The stakes where high and the hunt was fierce! Building suspense and excitement during the days and weeks leading up to your campaign is a great way to get people thinking about how they plan on participating.   Kickoff the campaign with a fun event and communicate important details On Monday morning, UWATX Staff met over a scrumptious breakfast to discuss the importance of Employee Campaign. We are proud to boast a 97 percent participation rate from our last campaign, and hope to do just as well this year!    Connect your Employee […]

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Partner Profile: Kerbey Lane Cafe

Name: Kerbey Lane Cafe Partner for: 1.5 years Partner for: Employee Campaign, Hands On Central Texas   Our relationship: Giving back in a variety of ways Creating a year-round, focused philanthropic initiative Kerbey Lane Cafe started their philanthropic efforts with UWATX as volunteers – they sponsored Fall Day of Caring and their team participated in volunteer projects. Through these efforts, they were able to get a first-hand look at what UWATX does in the community and who their dollars, advocacy and time could support – our friends and neighbors who struggle to make ends meet. Their efforts were so spectacular, that they won the 2013 Excellence in Volunteerism Award!  Through these efforts, their team identified the Success By 6 Center Project as a key area they wanted to support – and they’ve done it: specific locations adopted centers in the project to support with in-kind efforts and volunteering. Each location also has a philanthropic liaison who works to connect their team to the community during their Employee Campaign but also throughout the rest of the year – an important Best Practice for effectively engaging employees around giving and building a corporate responsibility plan.  Finding ways to give that fit company culture  Mason Ayer, CEO of Kerbey Lane Café, is strongly focused on culture – and creating a philanthropic focus is part of those efforts. Knowing their staff is unique, the team at Kerbey Lane has found special ways to give back that fit their culture, including:  Just eating a yummy brunch and saw this on […]

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We have an obligation to make Austin greater

Like many people, my original exposure to United Way was through an Employee Giving Campaign – when a speaker from one of United Way’s partner agencies came to our staff meeting and talked about the difference that United Way made. The story was compelling, so I became a donor. At that point, I didn’t give a lot of thought to the big picture of United Way in the community. Over the years, I was exposed to more and more stories through our company’s campaign, and I even got involved in our company’s Day of Caring. I began to see some of the direct effects of United Way’s work and that, through UWATX, we were all making a difference in a broad way, but I still wasn’t where I am today.  The big change happened about a year ago when I was approached about being involved in the relaunch of the Young Leaders Society.  From the start, it was clear that this was going to be a different kind of philanthropic group. It was one that was going to make a difference for a specific group kids during one of the hardest times in their life – middle school. I remembered my own middle school experience, and how awkward and difficult everything seemed. I can’t imagine going through that along with the financial, family and language challenges that some of these kids have. So, I jumped at the opportunity to support the Target Graduation program through financial contributions and volunteer projects. Giving is about more than the money. It […]

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9 local businesses making Austin greater

As part of our 90-day celebration of UWATX’s 90th anniversary, we’re working on 10 lists of 9 highlighting influential and impactful people in the Austin community. In the eighth part of our series, we bring you nine local businesses invested in giving back. We’re a city that prides itself on our weirdness – and a big part of what makes Austin different is how much we love local business and how many businesses come from Austin. We’re a city that nurtures small businesses and attracts entrepreneurs – and we’re also a city that gives back. In that spirit, we are highlighting 9 businesses that are both homegrown in Austin and give back to our community. 1. Alt Creative Alt Creative is an interactive design agency that makes giving back a core part of their work – they blog about the importance of small business being philanthropic and even have a page on their site dedicated to their philanthropic impact. In 2013, they were a finalist for the AustinGives GeneroCity Awards. 2. Kerbey Lane (UWATX Partner) Besides making delicious pancakes, Kerbey Lane also makes our community better. The iconic Austin restaurant was founded in 1980 on the idea that food should be fresh and locally grown, and to this day, they continue to support local farms and producers. They also make time for employee volunteering projects through our Hands On Central Texas program, adopted local child care centers through our Success By 6 Center Project and are active in other community efforts. Kerbey Lane is truly a company committed to make Austin greater […]

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Amy Hammond served our country – now she serves our community

With Memorial Day around the corner, we’ve been thinking a lot about the veterans we work with every day, especially the dedicated men and women who help motivate their fellow government workers to give back to our community.  One of these inspiring figures is Amy Hammond – a San Antonio native, who retired from the Air Force two years ago and currently works as part of the Veterans Benefits Administration. Last year, Amy learned about UWATX’s work, specifically the Navigation Center, and was so impressed, she chose to give back to support our efforts. In the following months, Amy has joined the local committee to help lead the Central Texas Combined Federal Campaign, the Employee Giving Campaign that provides federal employees with the opportunity to support their local communities through payroll deduction donations.    What motivated you to go into the Air Force? What are you most proud of in your Air Force career?  I was born into an Air Force family and I’m sure that had something to do with me following that path; however, at the time I joined the Air Force I was simply looking for a means to pay for my undergraduate degree.  The Air Force paid for four years of my college via a scholarship and then I paid the Air Force back by committing to four years of service.  Somewhere along the way, the Air Force became so much more to me, it became a calling to serve and I ended up staying for 25 years.  The things I’m most proud of in my career […]

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Recognizing the best in philanthropy: Employee Campaign Awards 2013

Thanks to almost 400 companies and their employees in the Austin community, UWATX’s vision for Austin is one step closer to becoming a reality.  Last night, we celebrated and recognized those companies who excelled in building philanthropy in our community. Overall awards Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Awards Our Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy award is given to United Way for Greater Austin’s Top 3 campaigns, companies who make important investments with a commitment to making Austin Greater and where employees also give of their time, talent and treasure. Each of these companies implement United Way’s best practices, and do so in a way that represents “excellence” in all categories.  They represent the heart of philanthropy in Greater Austin and we are so honored to work with them everyday to lift up the working poor and ensure that every one of our community members has what they need to thrive. This year’s winners are H-E-B, 3M and Enterprise. Pictured, from left: Mark Hauerland and David Spencer, H-E-B, Russell Bridges, 3M, Eric Munoz and Nikki Mulvaney, Enterprise, and Bobby Jenkins, ABC Home & Commercial   Best Practices Award: Target The “Best Practices Award” recognizes the company that implements UWATX’s 3 Best Practices of engaging company leaders in Employee Campaign, providing opportunities for employees to learn about the impact of their gifts and experiencing community change through volunteer projects hosted by UWATX.  This year, our representatives were able to speak at every Target store and cover every employee shift to ensure that Target employees […]

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