;)
The 2007 Campaign is now entering the final stretch and so far, we are exactly where we were at this time last year. I was hoping to be ahead of last year's pace but it seems this year, like last year, we are preparing to bring in about 40% of the campaign in the final 25 days before Christmas.
I have always said it really does not matter when we finish the race, as long as we finish it....at goal.
Currently, we are at 57.6% of the campaign goal and we are hearing positive unofficial results from many of our employee campaigns. There is still a lot unknown, but we are hoping the remaining campaigns do finish at or slightly above last year's totals.
In the photo above, Woodbridge Foam employees, and our own Gary Atkinson, enjoy the third of three chili dinners at the plant. The campaign team at Woodbridge have a variety of incentives to donate, plus a nice mix of events to help the employee campaign at Woodbridge reach its potential. Woodbridge Foam will also match all employee donations.
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( 2.9 / 186 );)
Terra Nitrogen employees as highlighted above helped the United Way of Sarnia-Lambton get its campaign over the Million Dollar mark yesterday. Congratulations to all the United Way volunteers at Terra including Pat and Meghan in the photo above. Terra matched all employee donations, as did Agrium at the Terra Site. Agrium did a wonderful first time campaign at the Courtright facility this year.
Overall, the dollars are starting to add up quickly. We are hearing more encouraging campaign news from many of the employee accounts from throughout Lambton.
The Canadian Coast Guard, Imperial Oil, Royal Polymers, and many of the area Secondary Schools have reported impressive totals this year. The Secondary Schools in particular have already reached their goal and three more schools are yet to report. Some are still planning additional special events to involve the students.
Today is the annual Mexican Fiesta at NOVA St. Clair River Site. This authentic Mexican lunch has quickly become a favorite of Paddy Roach and I. I will be sure to add a photo of today's lunch on my blog in the coming days.
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( 2.9 / 194 );)
Now at $904,000 we are just a few dollars away from the 50% mark in the 2007 campaign towards our goal of $1,840,000.
In the photo above, employees from Lambton County Municipal government hold their annual Chili Lunch at the Administration Building on Wyoming.
It was a great surprise to see upon my return from Alexandria Virginia that two matching employee campaigns had wrapped up successful campaigns. Employees from both TransAlta, and Terra Nitrogen in Courtright had completed their drives. Although we are still counting the money, and separating the Donor Option amounts to non-member agencies, it appears that both sites will match or perhaps even exceed last year's totals. Nice job to all the campaign volunteers from those sites.
I mentioned in my last post that the United Way of America held a two day conference on Community Outcomes. "CI" is really the next step in our Outcomes funding process. Up until now, we have always viewed our community needs as we see them using our Member Agencies as a lens. In the future, we will be looking more at overall community indicators and will play more of a role in bringing people and organizations to gether to tackle community ills as a whole and measuring our results in a variety of ways. I have indicated in our most recent Long Range Plan that we will continue to make more and more partnerships with other groups in Sarnia-Lambton with the optimal goal of making lasting, sustainable positive change in our community.
While in Alexandria, both Pamela and I met some wonderful staff and volunteers from other United Ways; mostly in the United States. Many of these new friends are in various stages in their process to Community Impact and I am sure many of us will remain in contact with each other over the coming years to learn from each other. Other than Pam and I, there was one other Canadian, Gene, from the United Way of the Capital Region in Calgary, Alberta.
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( 2.9 / 201 )We are getting closer. We are still about $35,000 away from the 50% mark of the campaign goal of $1,840,000. Indicators are still positive as we are hearing great unofficial results from many of the employee campaigns. Soon, all the activity from the many employee campaigns will result in some rapid upward momentum in the campaign.
We had a fabulous weekend with the showing of Mark McNabb's new film The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens staring Roddy Piper. We are still working with Mark, and Skylight Video to determine how much money was raised for the campaign, but know that we raised over $700 from the SCITS talk from Roddy, and I know the child stars of the film did a great job raising more money through the signing of autographs. We owe a big thanks to the local kids of the movie, and their parents for waiting around to sign all those autographs following the showings to benefit the United Way. Once the final numbers are known, we'll have an announcement.
Off topic, I am presently in Alexandria Virgina, the head quarters for the United Way of America. About 30 people, including Pamela Bodkin and I, representing about 25 different United Ways are discussing more about Community Outcomes. As many of you are aware, we have been funding programs and services based upon Outcomes and Impacts, but from an agency perspective. This new and improved technique looks more at community indicators and an overall community well being agenda.
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Kathy Sitter, Teppermans's store manager in Sarnia delivered pizza to United Way canvassers, Angela Ladouceur (left), Braden Manderson and Ruby Chipman to celebrate 100% participation among the employees at Teppermans in Sarnia. Sitter, who is also a United Way Board Member said the employees had achieved 100% participation since first coming to Sarnia in 1993. All staff participated in the Pizza lunch fundraiser.
Interest is starting to rise in Rowdy Roody Piper's next trip to Sarnia. In fact, Piper will be at LCCVI in Petrolia on Thursday to meet with the students there, and many of the teachers.
Then, beginning at 7:00 PM at SCITS, members of the public are invited to attend ($5 for students, $10 for Adults, plus a limited amount of VIP tickets for $25), to hear Roddy talk about his life, the dangers of alcohol and drug use, importance of an education, etc. Tickets are available both at the United Way, and at the door.
Get your tickets too for the World Premiere showing of Roddy's latest movie shot in the Sarnia-Lambton area called the Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens. Tickets are only available at the Imperial Oil Box Office.
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( 3.1 / 200 );)
A series of special events at Dow Chemical in Sarnia have helped move the United Way campaign totals up to near 45% of the $1,840,000 level.
While the growth in dollars raised continues to slow this week, I am very confident that all the recent activity will begin to translate into dollars. In speaking with several E.C.C.s from such work sites as NOVA, TransAlta, DMW Electrical, and many others, campaigns appear to be on track similar to last year's campaigns.
Presently, we stand at $815,728, and 2,907 donors.
Tickets for the Roddy PIper talk at SCITS on Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 7:00 PM are really starting to sell. For more information on Roddy's talk, please visit our primary website at wwww.theunitedway.on.ca and view the link to Up Coming Events.
Up Coming Events
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( 3.2 / 234 );)
Future Shop employees contributed over $4,500 this year. In the photo above, Bruce Colborne receives the 2007 pledgecards and a summary sheet with the impressive results from the Future Shop Employee Campaign Chair Sue Burk.
With the help of these contributions, the United Way has now surpassed the 42% level of the campaign.
We expect continued growth in the next couple of weeks as many of the recently announced campaign kickoffs begin to report their interim campaign figures.
Watch for more details on the Roddy Piper motivational talk at SCITS on Thursday, November 8, 2007, and of course, the premiere showing of The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens on The Friday Night, and Saturday afternoon.
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( 3.3 / 245 );)
Enbridge Pipelines got the United Way up and over the 40% mark yesterday. Shown in the picture above, Enbridge Pipelines Supervisor of Operations Services, and volunteer auctioneer holds up an Ipod; one of many items up for bids at the annual Engrdige Auction and BBQ. The event raised over $4,500 and overall, Enbrdige will surpass last year's campaign totals.
The numbers are also looking good for TransAlta who report being at last year's total with a couple more special events to be held.
The November 8th, 2007 Roddy Piper talk at SCITS has started to generate some interest. Tickets are available by calling the United Way at 519 336-5452. More information can be obtained by calling the United Way or visiting our website or the official Billy Owens movie website at http://mysticalbillyo.com. Tickets are $5 for students, $10 for adults, nd a special VIP pass is available for $25. The VIP gets you a chance to meet Roddy for a photo and an autograph.
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( 3.1 / 229 );)
With the help of Bell Canada and a $2,400 contribution, we are still inching closer to the 40% mark of the campaign. Although overall growth in the campaign has slowed in terms of dollars reported, the level of activity in Sarnia-Lambton seems to be at an all time high.
We have had several more employee campaigns kickoff in the past few days, and have more yet this week. Just this morning, Gary Atkinson and I were at Reliance Home Comfort, (formerly known as Union Energy) to kick off their campaign. Last year, Reliance employees in Sarnia had by far and away the highest participation in Ontario with 74%. Congratulations Reliance.
And, at noon today, Bruce Colborne will visit with Cabot Canada Employees to help commence their campaign.
Both Cabot Canada and Reliance will match employee donations dollar for dollar.
In the photo above, from left to right is Tim Lozon Community Affairs Manager 519 of Bell Aliant, Gary Atkinson of the United Way and Chris Capes Operations Manager Sarnia - Chatham Bus/Data Team. Gary requested that we extend thanks to all the Sarnia Employee’s for their generosity and be assured the funds are greatly appreciated and will assist the local agencies. Thanks to all for your support!
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( 2.7 / 262 );)
I love this photo. This photo was submitted from an employee at the Point Edward Casino. This was one of many events they had to raise money for the United Way of Sarnia-Lambton. in the photo; Marc Colameco, Casino Manager at the Point Edward Casino managed to avoid the first pie thrown but takes the second one for the United Way. Table Games Department organized the Pie throw as part of their United Way campaign. Employees purchased pies to through at their managers and raised over $150 in the first hour.
We had many more employee campaigns kickoff this week, and I am really excited about how well the Education campaigns are running. We have had presentations to both of our Catholic French Language schools, and meetings with all of the principals of the Secondary Schools, and all are very supportive. Thank you to everybody who has helped so far within the education campaigns this year.
The campaign has raised $718,772 from 2,417 contributors.
We are also excited about the Canada Coast Guard announcement on Monday when they will reveal their final United Way campaign totals.
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