United Way of King County Blog » John Thelan

Costco takes top honors at Spirit of Caring Celebration

Madeline Moy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:32:07 +0000

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.

“Looks like we made it…”

Madeline Moy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:26:13 +0000

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.

Onward and upward

Madeline Moy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:12:29 +0000

The Climb for the Community team from left to right: RMI guide Seth, Greg Bronstein, Jim Mora, John Thelan, Peter Whittaker, Jon Fine, Roger Goodell, Ed Viesturs, Tod Leiweke, Molly Nordstrom and unidentified RMI guide

The Climb for the Community team started their two-day ascent to the summit of Mount Rainier at about 9:45 a.m. today and should reach Camp Muir by 5:00 p.m. The hike to Camp Muir is nearly 4.5 miles and will take them up to an elevation of 10,060 feet.

Join the Climb every step of the way

Madeline Moy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:41:38 +0000

United Way of King County’s Climb for the Community begins July 5. Join these community leaders as they show their support for United Way’s Response for Basic Needs and climb to the top of Mount Rainier.

The climbers:

Roger Goodell – NFL Commissioner

Jon Fine – United Way of King County President and CEO

Jim Mora – Seattle Seahawks Head Coach

Tod Leiweke – Seattle Seahawks CEO

Molly Nordstrom – United Way of King County Board Chair

Fred Kiga - The Boeing Company Vice President

John Thelan – Costco Wholesale Senior Vice President

Greg Bronstein – Wells Fargo Regional Managing Director

The guides:

Ed Viesturs – The only American climber to summit all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen.

Peter Whittaker – Mountain guide for more than 25 years and co-owner of Rainier Mountaineering, Inc., the largest guide service in the U.S.

Be a part of the Climb for the Community by giving $5 and asking 5 of your friends to join you. It’s a small way to make a BIG impact in people’s lives.

Give now>>

Watch the Climb for the Community video>>

Get details about the Climb>>

Learn more about the Response for Basic Needs>>

The NFL Commissioner, the coach of the Seattle Seahawks and United Way's CEO go up a mountain…

Madeline Moy — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:13:28 +0000

The headline for this post sounds like the opening of a corny joke, but actually it’s true! NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Jim Mora and United Way of King County CEO Jon Fine will be going on a “Climb for the Community” to the top of Mount Rainier July 5-8.

They will be joined by United Way Board Chair Molly Nordstrom, Costco Senior Vice President John Thelan, Boeing Vice President Fred Kiga and Wells Fargo regional Director Greg Bronstein. The climbers’ guides will be legendary moutaineers Ed Viesturs and Peter Whittaker (aka the guys who just came back from Climbing Mount Everest again.)

You can be a part of this inspiring event by making a donation to United Way’s Response for Basic Needs. Proceeds raised from the climb will provide food, shelter and hope for people in need. Click here to give now.

Read this Seattle P-I article or watch the video below to learn more.

Click here to view the embedded video.