Congratulations to KING 5 News for winning a 2010 Regional Emmy Award for its coverage of our Climb for the Community. Reporter Paul Silvi and photojournalist Peter Cassam not only covered the story, they went all the way up to the summit with the rest of the team!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Molly Nordstrom, United Way’s 2009-2010 board chair was the only female member of the Climb for the Community team. Molly describes the experience of climbing Mt. Rainier as “humbling” and “truly beautiful and spiritual.” She also says that it’s a good thing that the team started their summit ascent in the dark because, “If you had seen what you were climbing in broad daylight, you might not want to take it on.”

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United Way CEO Jon Fine and Board Chair Molly Nordstrom on the summit of Mt. Rainier

Last July, United Way of King County CEO, Jon Fine celebrated two major milestones. He turned 55, and he made it to the summit of Mount Rainier as a member of our Climb for the Community team.

Here’s Jon talking about his experience climbing Mt. Rainier. He had never climbed a mountain before and remarks that he was “skeptical” when people suggested he should go up Rainier. However, Jon also says, “I love United Way…and there wouldn’t be too much I wouldn’t do to support United Way.” Guess that includes climbing 14,000 feet!

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One year ago, everyone at United Way of King County breathed a big sigh of relief–and then erupted into cheers when we heard that our Climb for the Community team had successfully made it to the summit of Mount Rainier.

In July 2009, a group of community leaders went on the inaugural “Climb for the Community” to the top of Mount Rainier. The group included United Way of King County CEO Jon Fine, United Way Board Chair Molly Nordstrom, Seattle Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Their guides were mountain climbing legends Ed Viesturs and Peter Whittaker.

The climbers’ purpose: raise awareness and money for United Way of King County’s Response for Basic Needs, which provides help for families, disabled people and seniors being hard hit by the economic downturn.

The 2009 Climb for the Community raised over $350,000. Thank you once again to everyone who made a donation! Whether you gave $5 or $500, your gift has made a difference and means so much to our community.

• Your support means 6 million more pounds of food for the emergency food system, and more groceries, baby formula and fresh produce for people in need.
• It means more refrigerators and freezers to store food, and trucks to move it, for 42 food banks that are on the front lines of ending hunger.
• And it means wonderful, creative solutions on the horizon, such as our new cannery project, which will enable surplus fruits and vegetables to be canned. It’s the first project of its kind in the Puget Sound region. When the cannery is fully operation, it will have the potential to produce 10,000 cans of food a week for local food banks. That’s more than half a million cans over a year. Wow!

These are impressive results that are going to make a lasting difference in the community and in people’s lives. We are so thankful to everyone who supported the Climb for the Community and to the community and business leaders who made it up the mountain.

We’re looking forward to another successful Climb in 2011. Stay tuned for details.

Lauren Kutschka, Gene Roeglin, Nikki Chellew accepted the Spirit of Puget Sound Award for Costco.

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 in giving and volunteering.

Costco Wholesale received the Spirit of Puget Sound Award, recognized as King County’s highest achievement in corporate philanthropy. The award honors outstanding community involvement, sustained campaign excellence, and the promotion of volunteerism.

For the 2009-2010 campaign season, the employees of Costco showed incredible heart, and boundless generosity. Chairman Jeff Brotman’s and CEO Jim Sinegal’s strong leadership and commitment to United Way of King County resonated throughout the company, and made this campaign year an exceptional success. Leadership Giving levels (gifts of $1,000 and above) jumped seven percent company-wide, and overall participation was 84 percent—a 33 percent increase company-wide.

At the campaign kickoff at Costco’s Issaquah headquarters, Seahawks players Lofa Tatupu and Deon Grant joined with Seahawks CEO Todd Leiweke to get the crowd primed for a winning season. Adding to Costco’s campaign’s success was its innovative new giving strategy utilizing the Express Pledge System. This point-of sale pledge system for employees enabled gifts to go directly to United Way of King County in $5 increments—generating nearly $60,000.

In all, Costco’s Northwest region raised $3.7 million for United Way of King County during their superb campaign. Costco employees also gave generously of their time, volunteering at last year’s Day of Caring. In addition, Senior Vice President of Depot Operations John Thelan joined the “Climb for the Community” team, and Costco stepped up in a big way to support the Response for Basic Needs and help people hurt by the economic downturn by pledging $100,000 during the Climb.

Thank you again for supporting United Way of King County!

From left to right: Peter Whittaker, Jon Fine, Molly Nordstrom, Greg Bronstein, Roger Goodell, Tod Leiweke, John Thelan, Paul Silvi, Ed Viesturs (kneeling)

Cue the Barry Manilow music (I am getting old!), we reached our online fundraising goal of $30,000 for the Climb for the Community! Thank you to everyone who gave and asked 5 friends (or more) to join them. Your generous gifts will help people in need keep a roof overhead and food on the table.

Mountaineering legend Ed Viesturs was one of the guides for the Climb. He’s also a world-class photographer. Click here to check out a slideshow of his photos from the summit of Mount Rainier.

And for all who may be unfamiliar with the musical stylings of Mr. Manilow, here’s an awesomely bad karaoke video of “Looks Like We Made It.” Feel free to start your weekend by singing along.

Click here to view the embedded video.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Seattle Seahawks head coach Jim Mora have gotten most of the press attention related to United Way’s Climb for the Community. But what about Tod Leiweke, Seattle Seahawks CEO and the man with the original idea for the Climb?

Tod was right there on the top of Mount Rainier Wednesday morning celebrating with the commissioner and Coach Mora. In fact, this is his second summit of the mountain. He climbed it for the first time last summer.

Here are some reflections from Tod about the Climb:

Rainier was something that each of us wanted to climb not only as a personal challenge, but as a way to draw more attention to the hard conditions now facing a lot of people in our region. With the down economy, many of our neighbors have suffered setbacks and are struggling. For some, it can be as stark as not having rent money, or not being able to put three decent meals a day on the table for your kids.

Over the last year, I’ve had the privilege of being United Way of King County’s campaign chair. That means I’ve led the effort to enlist individuals and companies as supporters. My passion for the role started big, and has only grown. That’s because I’ve come to understand United Way’s critical role in creating and sustaining the community that all of us want: A community that doesn’t look away from people in need. A community that steps up and gives of its time, and it heart, and its resources.

Our goal for online fundraising for the Climb is $30,000. The money will all support work like keeping food banks stocked, and helping struggling families short-term with rent and utilities.

As of this morning, we’ve raised $27,400.50. Just $2,599.50 to go!

Help us get to the top of this, too, would you? Please give $5, and tell 5 friends. Or give $50, or $75 or $125, and get a chance at Seahawks pre-season tickets and field passes or Seahawks gear signed by Coach Mora.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.