Ice Cream Social and Family Fun Day!

On June 8 from noon to 6 pm Buchan's Blueberry Hill and the Traverse City Parrothead Club will be hosting an ice cream social and family fun day at Buchan's farm, 1472 Nelson Road.  Come out and enjoy Buchan's homemade ice cream, bring the kids so they can hang out in the Kids Zone where they can play games, do crafts, pet the animals, and enjoy a hot dog lunch.  Cost to enter the Kids Zone is just $5 per person and all proceeds benefit United Way of Northwest Michigan.

Catholic Heart Work Camp is here to VOLUNTEER!

Do you represent an organization in need of volunteers this summer? 

In mid-July, Traverse City will play host to the Catholic Heart Work Camp - a group of visiting adults and students (ages 14 - 20). Their main purpose while here in TC is to volunteer -  and they need projects to do! 

We'd love to provide you with volunteers, so let us know if you can accommodate one or more teams of 6 volunteers (5 kids/1 adult) for work from 8:30am-3pm during the week of July 17-20. Think big! These volunteers will be ready to work on projects big or small. Keep in mind that it is just fine if you have an age limit for volunteerism - just make sure you let us know so we can have volunteers of the right age come to your project. Also - these volunteers have transportation and are willing to travel 30 - 40 minutes outside of TC - you don't have to be in TC to take advantage of their volunteer efforts!

Please contact Amanda Hilt (231-947-3200x206,amanda@unitedwaynwmi.org) at the Volunteer Center with project ideas. 

Days of Action Book Drive

United Way of Northwest Michigan Volunteer Center is putting out a call for gently used or new children’s books during its annual book drive, scheduled for the week of May 13 through 17, 2013.

The books will be used during the Volunteer Center’s second annual Days of Action, literacy celebration events scheduled in four surrounding counties in June. All collected books will be supplied to children who attend the free-of-charge events in order to help encourage continued reading engagement by families throughout the summer months.

“Our Day of Action events provide families with free literacy activities to engage their children with over the summer.” Said Amanda Hilt, Youth and Family Volunteer Coordinator at United Way of Northwest Michigan. “In addition to providing literacy activities, gently used books are available for children and parents to take home and keep. Reading is incredibly important to continue over the summer. Many families may not have easy access to libraries and having books to keep at home, free of restrictions is wonderful.”

To donate, please drop off your gently used or new books to the local TCAPS elementary school nearest you, or to the United Way of Northwest Michigan offices at 521 S. Union, Traverse City. 

Why We Do What We Do...

This is the story of Cassandra S., on our first day in New Orleans we gutted the interior of her home, the first step in rebuilding.

Cassandra represents the true spirit of New Orleans.  Cassandra's home was built by Habitat for Humanity in 2001; before Hurricane Katrina she was living there with her five children, her two brothers, husband, and three step-children.  In Cassandra's words, "I have a big family and my house has always been the house where everybody goes."  It was a home full of people, love, and Cassandra's exceptional cooking.  As well as caring for her large family, Cassandra owned her own small business called Scotts Catering Service which catered various events - especially with her famous gumbo.

When the storm hit, Cassandra didn't have a working car to leave the city with. She pawned her computer in order to buy a starter for her car and drive everyone to Silver Creek, MS, where her uncle had a home.  His house was already full, so Cassandra and her children stayed outside in tents, surviving off of generators.  The family moved from Mississippi to Texas, where they spent a year with Cassandra's sister.
Cassandra returned to New Orleans East in 2007, living in two FEMA trailers outside her home.  There was not enough space for all eight children - they slept on tables and sofas.  For Cassandra, "this was one of the most miserable times of my life.  I had just lost everything and we were living in these tiny trailers - but at least I was home."

After two years in trailers, Cassandra and her family began renting a house and using their Road Home money to begin rebuilding.  It took about a year for her home to be finished, but when Cassandra went to see the completed house, she found the front door kicked in and all of the electric wiring and copper plumbing ripped out of her home.  She was devastated, but determined to return home, and began rebuilding again.  Once the home was finished a second time, she decided to elevate the house so it would be protected from future storms.  However, the elevation contractor left the door unlocked one night and thieves came in again to smash open her walls and steal everything they could carry.

Seven years after the storm, Cassandra still refuses to hang pictures in the house she is renting now.  She feels like "if I start hanging pictures it's like I'm not trying to get home anymore."  Today Cassandra lives with her children as well as her teenage niece.  Even after all this time, "being back home is the heaviest weight on my shoulders...I will feel more complete and my life can get going once again once we're home."  SBP is honored to rebuild Cassandra's house and help her turn it back into a home full of family holidays and pots of gumbo that are still missed throughout the neighborhood.

For more information on the St. Bernard Project and how you can help families like the Scott's please visit their website.

United Way of Northwest Michigan is partnering with C&J Signs, to promote your business and ours. This co-branding opportunity is an affordable way to advertise while benefiting the community you serve…and having fun doing it.  Golf course advertising has become increasingly popular in recent years, especially for small businesses needing ways to stretch their advertising budget. It is one of the most affordable ways to show case your business to a targeted clientele.  

For only $300:

·         Your Choice of sign placement at: Elmbrook, Interlochen, Mistwood and Chestnut Hills

·         A superbly crafted sign displayed for 1 year

·         1 Golf Michigan Play book

·         2-18 Hole Play Passes to  your course of choice

·         365 days of recognition on United Way of Northwest Michigan’s Website

·         3 month summer awareness event (participating businesses will be highlighted in UWNWMI e-newsletter and other social and media outlets)

Please call 231.947.3200 Ext. 204 should you have any questions, need additional information or to order a sign today!  

Free Tax Preperation

Tax season is here, and we've got great news -- you may be able to get your state and federal taxes prepared and filed free through MyFreeTaxes.com, a partnership with United Way, Goodwill Industries International, National Disability Institute and the Walmart Foundation.

Skip the tax preparer and file online--free.  Gather all relevant documents whether you do your own taxes or pay a preparer.  If you earned $57,000 or less in 2012 use MyFreeTaxes.com to file both your federal and state taxes.  You can also get extra help (still free) and file in-person if you made less than $50,000; just visit MyFreeTaxes.com for a site near you.

Get all the tax credits and deductions you deserve.  you could get money back even if you don't owe any taxes.  one in five Americans fail to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit each year, leaving thousands of dollars on the table.  For a helpful list of tax credits and deductions you may be eligible for, visit MyFreeTaxes.com. 

In partnership with United Way, MyFreeTaxes' online and in-person tax preparation and filing services have helped 4.5 million families claim nearly $6 billion in tax credits and refunds since 2009. Working together, we can ensure more people are on a better path to financial stability.

Meet Erin!!

Erin Bernhard is the new AmeriCorps VISTA for The Grand Vision. Although paid by a federal government program she will be working with Amanda and Susan at the United Way Volunteer Center to promote Volunteer Northwest Michigan. Her main objective is to work with the schools in the region to encourage student use of the website for service learning and engagement. She is also focused on promoting the website as a volunteer clearinghouse to local volunteer-run non-profits. Erin is a 2007 alum of Traverse City West Senior High and a recent graduate of the University of Michigan with a BA in English Literature and Language. Prior to her AmeriCorps service, she worked as an intern reporter with the Leelanau Enterprise