Campaign coordinators are the lifeblood of United Way of King County’s fundraising efforts. They often coordinate workplace giving campaigns on top of their regular jobs. At this year’s Spirit of Caring Celebration, we saluted three of our top coordinators.

Ben Farrow

From the get-go, Ben Farrow ensured that Puget Sound Energy was well-positioned for a successful campaign season. He secured top-level management support and developed a keenly strategic campaign plan. At this year’s campaign kickoff, he and the team organized two lunch-hour volunteer activities to engage…

Every year at our Spirit of Caring Celebration, United Way of King County recognizes an Outstanding Employee Volunteer Program at a local company. For 2009-2010, that company is Deloitte.

Volunteering is an integral component of Deloitte’s corporate culture. The company has a deep commitment to skills-based volunteering, pro bono services, capacity-building philanthropy, nonprofit board service and thought leadership.

Deloitte’s employee volunteer program is at the heart of its community involvement initiative. It includes a cutting-edge, $50 million pro bono program, board service, a year-round volunteer project…

We recently honored the best in giving and volunteering with our annual Spirit of Caring Awards. Sandy Gregory, Lucy Pruzan and Elaine Sells all were award winners, and we are proud to tell you more about them!

Elaine Sells: Volunteer of the Year

When it comes to stepping up and giving back to the community, Elaine Sells leads the way. Elaine has volunteered with United Way of King County’s Impact Council since 2004. She’s been instrumental in helping guide the direction of our work to end homelessness…

Get your taxes done for FREE!!

Now through April 15, 2010, United Way of King County will operate 17 free tax preparation sites throughout King County.  Tax assistance will be provided by over 550 volunteers who are trained and certified by the IRS.

Who is eligible for this service?

What services are available at tax sites?

There is a relatively new arrival in web-based software available to people who are managing scheduling and communications with volunteers (this is available to anyone- school teachers, non-profits, coaches, you name it)  It’s called VolunteerSpot.com.  It’s not a sophisticated volunteer management tool- there are no features for tracking interests, skills and availability for instance.  It won’t track hours and spit out pretty reports on volunteer involvement.  And it doesn’t really track contact information, except e-mail.  But it’s a great tool for getting people to sign…

[Fire roasted tomato and bleu cheese soup with a bacon apple and caramelized onion grilled cheese panini]

Candi Wilvang participated in the United Way Hunger Challenge with her family of three – Mom, Dad and ten year old son (with some help from her 20 year old son). Read about their experience below.

The challenge was an awesome experience for our family to take. I am the mother of two son’s ages 20 and 10. My oldest son Shattuck lives in his own apartment so we took…

Kristin Nelson, along with her her husband and four children participated in the United Way Hunger Challenge last week. Below she shares her reflection on the experience. For more ways to take action against hunger, visit http://www.uwkc.org/newsevents/events/haw/

Well, here we are at the end of the Hunger Challenge, having fed our family of six (including one infant) for an average of $25.21 per day.   With a dad who used to work full-time for a food bank, our kids hear regularly about how lucky we are to have…

One of the main issues facing local food banks and the clients who rely on them is a lack of fresh produce. Commonly donated items tend to be canned and dry goods, which are great, but don’t make for a very well rounded diet.

Fortunately, there are numerous ways to help stock food banks with healthy, fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Programs such as Solid Ground’s Lettuce Link aim to improve access to fresh produce to low-income individuals in Seattle. Lettuce Link coordinates with local P-Patch…

Here’s a nice re-cap of how the Earned Income Tax Credit can actually help break the cycle of poverty for someone, and why it’s so incredibly important to help people who receive the EITC to understand how to use the credit to build personal wealth and assets for the future.

Get your taxes done for FREE!!

Starting on January 12th, 2010, United Way of King County will operate 17 free tax preparation sites throughout King County.  Tax assistance will be provided by over 550 volunteers who are trained…

“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have
a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to
serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

I’ll admit, I’ve heard and read this quote many, many times over the years
without giving it much thought beyond ”what a nice sentiment”. It wasn’t until I spent yesterday afternoon packaging around 7,000 pounds of frozen corn cobs with 35…