The University of South Alabama Employee Campaign for United Way ended on Monday, December 1, 2014. To celebrate raising over $267,000 in campaign designation, 
UWSWA and USA held a reception thanking the many campaign leaders and volunteers at USA.
Thank you USA President Dr. Tony Waldrop for attending the event.
On the night of November 18, 2014, United Way of Southwest Alabama hosted an appreciation reception for UWSWA Leaders in Giving and local company executives. It was held at the Faculty Club House on the campus of the University of South Alabama.
On the night of Thursday, December 4, 2014, United Way of Southwest Alabama (UWSWA) will be hosting a wine tasting and an ugly holiday sweater contest at the Mobile Museum of History from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. All of the proceeds from the Wine Down will benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Mobile County, which provides carefully selected, age-appropriate books free to eligible homes with children under the age of five.
We are pleased to introduce you to our November Volunteer of the Month, Jennifer Irwin.
Jennifer is an outstanding citizen in our community and it is our pleasure to recognize her for her contribution to one of our partner agencies—Lifelines Counseling Services—and specifically, its Rape Crisis Program. The Rape Crisis Center provides direct service to sexual assault victims and their families 24/7 using staff and paid volunteers to deliver crisis counseling; support groups; hospital and court presence; advocacy; and community education/training for professionals.
Today we are putting the spotlight on our very first Volunteer of the Month! For October, we are recognizing Carlton Kirk for his contributions to the community, specifically to the Bay Area Food Bank, one of United Way of Southwest Alabama’s (UWSWA) partner agencies.
Pictured from left to right are: 2014 UWSWA Chairman of the Board and Site Director of Airbus Americas Engineering, Inc. David Trent, Leader of the Accelerated Reader program at Gilliard Elementary School Liz Curl, Principal of Gilliard Elementary School Debbie Boldin, UWSWA President and CEO Alan H. Turner II, Ryan New of BBVA Compass, Instructor for the B.C. Rain Aviation and Aerospace Academy Don Jones, Mobile Area Education Foundation CEO Carolyn Akers, B.C. Rain High School Principal Marlow Firle, and Kristi July from B.C. Rain High School
This morning, at Airbus America’s Mobile Engineering office, Airbus and the United Way of Southwest Alabama (UWSWA) announced the creation of a national education partnership between the organizations. David Trent, Site Director at Airbus Americas and 2014 Board Chair of the United Way of Southwest Alabama restated Airbus’ commitment to education. He shared that Mobile is one of five locations within the United States, where local Airbus facilities have formed an official partnership with their local United Way, to focus on community programs and services that have a positive impact in student education.
The 2014 Loaned Executive Training took place August 19-21 at Hancock Bank in Mobile. This training provided an opportunity for the Loaned Executives (LE) to immerse themselves in all things United Way.
Have you been to the United Way HandsOn website lately? If not, you’ll want to take another look.
The United Way HandsOn website has a significant number of new volunteer opportunities ideal for individuals, families, or corporate and community groups. The sign-up process is easy; with just a few clicks you will be registered and ready to get HandsOn.
To assist in reaching this year’s goal of a one percent increase over the 2013 campaign’s total of $5,003,273, the UWSWA conducted their pacesetter campaign throughout the summer.
Since April, the pacesetter campaign raised more than $1.5 million, which is roughly 30% of the total campaign goal of $5,053,305 for 2014.
Some of our youngest students miss 10 percent of the school year—about 18 days a year or just two days every month. Chronic absenteeism in kindergarten, and even pre-K, can predict lower test scores and poor attendance and retention in later grades, especially if the problems persist for more than a year. In fact, studies have shown that kindergarten and first-grade students who miss too many days of school have trouble mastering reading by the end of third grade. Since third-grade reading proficiency is a key indicator of future success in school, it is vital we help young students and their families develop good attendance practices.