“Now let me start from the beginning,” Teresa Martinez, Texas Mutual Project Management, and Analysis Supervisor said. After leaving home at a young age Teresa found herself, a 17-year-old who didn’t finish high-school, working at Target with a young son at home and looking for more. “I happened to notice a sign that read if you’re a youth and you are interested in something more than just your average job, call this number,” Teresa said. “So, I called the number on the sign and after going in and talking with counselors at the program, I called Youth Employment Services and found out that I qualified for help.” Youth Employment Services, at the time, was a funded partner of United Way. The program helped her work towards her GED, obtain a driver’s license and most significantly, helped her get her son into childcare with Any Baby Can – a United Way affiliated partner. “That was my first introduction to United Way,” Teresa said. Change-maker As a 19 year Texas Mutual veteran, Teresa has eight years of United Way campaign coordination under her belt and has once again returned to the campaign as 2017 co-chair. Teresa was the volunteer special events coordinator for the United Way Campaign at Texas Mutual from 2007 – 2013 and during that time, along with the help of passionate coworkers, she organized fundraising events that allowed Texas Mutual Employees to give back to their community in a fun and rewarding way. In […]
Read MoreNew Year’s Resolutions You Can Actually Keep
The new year is always a great time to reflect on where you have been and set goals for how you want to live your life for the upcoming 365 days. New Year’s resolutions don’t always have to be a hard and radical lifestyle change–in fact, that makes it much harder to make them actually come to fruition! Instead, check out some ideas for a New Year’s resolution that not only will make you feel better, but also will improve the lives of those around you. We even have tangible ideas to get you started on how to make them happen. In 2016, I want to…. Spend more time with family Have you heard about our Family Volunteer series? We host these free events at our United Way offices in East Austin, and they are a great way to encourage your little ones to learn about giving back in an engaging way. Our next Family Volunteer event takes place on February 6th from 10 a.m. to noon, and we will be making Valentine’s Day cards to show our appreciation for the local agencies we work with. Keep an eye out on the Hands On Central Texas site for more details coming soon and to sign up. Meet new people Check out our United Way giving societies: the Women’s Leadership Council, the Young Leaders Society and the Century Investors. Each group is made up of some of our most philanthropic supporters, who share common interests, enjoy networking events, and volunteer and advocate together. Learn […]
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 MoreNational Volunteer Week 2015
April 12th through April 18th is National Volunteer Week. We wanted to take this week to thank all of our volunteers (that’s YOU!) for all you do to make Austin greater. Our volunteer arm, Hands On Central Texas, had a very busy 2014. Check out what we were able to accomplish last year, thanks to volunteers like you: 14,207 Volunteers gave their time with us 241,140 Hours of volunteer work completed 417 Number of nonprofits served through Hands On Central Texas 1,608 Hours of completed training courses for volunteers That’s a lot of people giving their time back to their community! Was there a specific volunteer project you participated in last year that you loved? Let us know by tweeting us @uwatx or sharing it on our Facebook page! We’ve already started off 2015 on a great note with our MLK Day of Service in January, and multiple volunteer projects from campaigns running this spring, such as CLS Partners’ work in St. John’s. This Friday, April 17 more than 600 volunteers have signed up to assist on 32 volunteer projects around the city for our annual Spring Day of Caring (SDOC). There are very limited spots remaining for SDOC, so sign up now if you want to join us! Help us make 2015 our biggest year of giving back yet!
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