http://www.uwkcblog.org Choose the Way: United Way of King County's blog Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:24:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/03/10/congrats-to-our-campaign-coordinators-of-the-year/ 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, ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/03/10/deloittes-employee-volunteer-program-stands-above-the-rest/ At the 2010 Spirit of Caring Celebration, we honored Microsoft with the Innovative Fundraising Award for breaking new ground and exploring creative ways to motivate employees to give to its workplace giving campaign. The Microsoft Auction Tool Microsoft IT built an online auction tool to help raise funds for United Way ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/03/10/microsoft-wins-innovative-fundraising-award/ 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 ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/03/10/meet-three-of-united-ways-top-volunteers/ The state Senate has proposed a devastating $39.3 million cut to the Housing Trust Fund.  At least $32 million of this will come from funding that has already been allocated and projects that may already be underway.  The Housing Trust Fund is Washington's most important means of providing safe, decent, ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/03/09/housing-trust-fund-in-jeopardy-contact-your-state-senator-today/ The folks at Stamp Out Hunger are getting an early start to their food collecting this year thanks to the help of Campbell's Soup.  If you join Stamp Out Hunger's Facebook fan page, Campbell's will donate 1 can of soup ( up to 1 million pounds!) to Feeding America. Stamp Out ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/03/08/use-facebook-to-donate-food-for-the-hungry/ [caption id="attachment_2954" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Lauren Kutschka, Gene Roeglin, Nikki Chellew accepted the Spirit of Puget Sound Award for Costco."][/caption] United Way of King County awarded the prestigious Spirit of Caring Awards on March 3 in front of a crowded ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Honorees included individuals and corporations who represented the best ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/03/04/costco-takes-top-honors-at-spirit-of-caring-celebration/ Yesterday, the IRS released a statement indicating that there are more than $1.3 billion in unclaimed federal tax refunds for people who did not file for 2006. This includes approximately 37,000 filers in Washington state! If you are one of those people, you need to file your 2006 return by ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/03/03/have-you-filed-your-2006-tax-return/ [Image from LA Eastide] Did you know that in L.A. County, certain "restaurants" accept food stamps? It is part of their Restaurant Meals Program that has been running since 2005. For those that don't know, food stamps (aka EBT) is generally only allowed for food products that must be prepared. ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/03/01/food-stamps-inrestaurants-good-idea-or-bad-idea/ Note: This piece was originally published in the Seattle P-I five years ago. Unfortunately, the GAU program is on the chopping block again. The arguments put forth by United Way CEO Jon Fine and United Way board member Dan Brettler are still true today and powerful reasons to preserve GAU. ... http://www.uwkcblog.org/2010/02/26/protect-disabled-low-income-people-in-our-community/