United Way of Charlotte County

Your Partnership is Vital

jsilvaroli — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 14:02:38 +0000

Your Partnership is Vital jsilvaroli Tue, 11/28/2023 - 9:02am

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Click here to make impact by sponsoring

Kindergarten Readiness Bags

jsexton — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 17:09:14 +0000

Kindergarten Readiness Bags

jsexton Mon, 01/30/2023 - 12:09pm

Kindergarten Readiness Bags

Learning begins long before a child steps foot into a kindergarten classroom. The Charlotte County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading seeks to develop a strong foundation for our youngest learners through Kindergarten Readiness Bags.

Kindergarten Readiness Bags were created to provide learning support for incoming kindergartners in the months before school begins so that children can start school ready to learn.

Who gets them? All incoming kindergarteners attending public school in Charlotte county.

What’s included in these magical bags?

    Two packages of flashcards
    Literacy charts
    Magnetic lowercase alphabet letters
    Magnetic uppercase alphabet letters
    Drawing paper
    Jumbo crayons
    Kindergarten Readiness Checklists
    Information packets about Attendance Works, Vroom, Mind in the Making, and Stronger Me, Stronger We
    Josh the Baby Otter book
    Magic Postcards – When sent in, the child receives another FREE book for their home library.

How can I help?

Volunteers are needed each February to help assemble the materials into our bright yellow K Bags, package them into individual boxes for area VPKs (preschool providers) and elementary schools, and deliver the boxes to the appropriate locations.

assembly line set-up
labeling of books
assembly line
clean-up crew
packaging of materials
delivery (choose a location near you!)

When you give one morning to assembling the material for our bright yellow bags, you are joining in the movement to improve kindergarten readiness, grade-level reading rates, and overall educational success of Charlotte County's youngest citizens.

If you are interested in volunteering for 2024 Kindergarten Readiness Bags, click here.

Parents and caregivers:

To learn how to best use the items in your bag, check out this video.

A recap of 2023 Kindergarten Readiness Bag Assembly:

NOW HIRING: Resource Development Director

jsexton — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 17:56:55 +0000

NOW HIRING: Resource Development Director jsexton Wed, 01/11/2023 - 12:56pm

PLEASE NOTE: THIS POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED.

Join Our Development Team

Resource Development Director

Posted January 11, 2023

Click here to read the full job description.

United Way of Charlotte County is mobilizing the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty. Our workplace is fast-paced, friendly, and adaptive. We are seeking a dynamic resource development professional to join our team who can lead our annual campaign efforts and events.

The Resource Development Director will lead and oversee the planning, direction, and execution of all fundraising efforts and activities, and will serve as a public representative of the organization. It is a hands-on, in-the-community position.

People with diverse backgrounds and abilities are encouraged to apply. Join us in giving everyone in our community the opportunity to live their best life.

You are a good fit for this position if:

You have a passion for mission-based work and the Charlotte County community;
You are goal oriented --- a person that is excited to work towards a ‘stretch goal’;
You are completely comfortable asking individuals and companies to invest their money, time or talents regardless of the communication vehicle;
You are a compelling public speaker who enjoys public speaking – whether it is speaking to groups large or small. You look forward to developing this talent further;
You are an innovative, creative and strategic thinker that understands how to build both on success and from the ground up. Some of our revenue streams that you will work on will have a history and foundation while others will be completely new;
You have excellent copywriting and language skills to convey our mission into relevant and interesting content;
You are a team player with the confidence to take the lead and guide other team members but can also be led by other team members, as appropriate;
You can independently manage multiple projects and remain focused on details, follow-up, and communication. You must be adept at knowing how to prioritize tasks and your time most effectively to achieve goals;
You have excellent customer service skills. While interacting with volunteers, donors and the public you have great listening skills, are patient, well-spoken and polite; and
You are willing and able to work a flexible schedule, to attend UWCC events and networking events.

Email your resume to admin@unitedwayccfl.org or deliver to:
17831 Murdock Circle, Suite A, Port Charlotte, FL 33948

No phone inquiries.

United Way is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any person because of race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by law. This nondiscrimination policy extends to all terms, conditions, and privileges of employment as well as the use of all company facilities, participation in all company-sponsored activities, and all employment actions. United Way will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in an undue hardship.

Women United

dforlini — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 15:11:56 +0000

Women United dforlini Mon, 04/04/2022 - 11:11am

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Our Impact

dforlini — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 14:17:35 +0000

Our Impact dforlini Mon, 04/04/2022 - 10:17am

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Outstanding Volunteers Assemble Readiness Bags

dforlini — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 19:43:33 +0000

Outstanding Volunteers Assemble Readiness Bags

dforlini Wed, 02/23/2022 - 2:43pm

Volunteers Team Up to Support Kindergarten Readiness

All incoming kindergartners to Charlotte County public schools are in for a treat!

And all it took was:

51 Volunteers
3 1/2 Hours
1,200 Bags

On February 22, a team of volunteers with a passion for children and a heart for education came together to assemble Kindergarten Readiness Bags. Each bag is stuffed with goodies that provide interactive tools for parents and caregivers to use with their children to help prepare them for their kindergarten experience!

United Way of Charlotte County is proud to partner with Sarasota, DeSoto, and Manatee counties in the regional effort to promote reading proficiency for children through the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Kindergarten Readiness Bags are a piece of the bigger picture aimed at setting our students up for educational success, and ensuring that more students in our community are reading on grade level by the end of 3rd grade.

Each bag includes flashcards, magnetic letters, jumbo crayons, a Josh the Baby Otter book, and so much more! Parents and caregivers are provided a link to a video demonstrating how to make the most of these free materials.

Bags were delivered to Charlotte County preschool providers (VPKs) this week, ensuring that children have access to these valuable educational resources well in advance of their first day of kindergarten in the fall. Volunteers delivered boxes full of the bright yellow bags across the county for the over 1,000 incoming Charlotte County kindergarten students.

Let's Get It Done By 3/31!!

dforlini — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 11:29:32 +0000

Let's Get It Done By 3/31!! dforlini Tue, 02/22/2022 - 6:29am

Community United

Your desire to transform local lives has brought the United Way of Charlotte County 2021-2022 campaign to 81% of our goal. We are so grateful for our partners, sponsors, donors and our community who united to get us this far. Your support helps us to move the needle in our fight against poverty in Charlotte County. But to truly call our campaign a success, we need to reach 100% by March 31.

There are many ways you can support our goal of eliminating poverty in Charlotte County.

Text CCCommunity to 41444
Give online, here.
Join Women United - https://www.unitedwayccfl.org/women-united
Chances to win the Ultimate Travel Package - UCareToWin.com
Become a Sponsor - Learn more here.

United we fight for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in our community. Your continued support is valuable, appreciated, and needed now more than ever.

6th Annual Women United Lunch

dforlini — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 17:37:52 +0000

6th Annual Women United Lunch dforlini Thu, 01/27/2022 - 12:37pm

Lunch Recap at Carmelo's Italian Ristorante

Photo credit: Steve Lineberry, Premier Photographic Events

While there were cooler temperatures than usual, over 125 women bundled up and gathered together for this annual event on January 25, 2022 to encourage and support each other. In addition to a delicious meal prepared by Carmelo's Italian Ristorante, attendees of this event heard from two inspiring Charlotte County women.

Guests donated a total of 84 children's books to benefit the families participating in the United Way of Charlotte County (UWCC) funded community collaboration, Kids Thrive. Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director of UWCC, wrote a column for the Charlotte Sun highlighting the central points from the impactful keynote speech. The column can be found here.

Past recipients of the United Way's Woman of Courage award, Elizabeth Sides and Jessica Hinckley announced Collette Bailey as the 2022 Woman of Courage (pictured here with Victoria Scanlon). Victoria Scanlon, CEO of Charlotte Behavioral Health Care was introduced as the 2022 Woman of Distinction (right) and also the keynote speaker for the lunch.

Each woman was provided the opportunity to share a glimpse of their journey to become the bold and courageous women they now are.

Click here to read the moving poem about Broken Pieces authored by Collette Bailey.

Victoria Scanlon's three steps to collectively bringing your A-game (from her keynote speech) can be found here.

Women United and Dillard's

dforlini — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 19:38:08 +0000

Women United and Dillard's dforlini Mon, 12/13/2021 - 2:38pm

Women United Networks at Port Charlotte Town Center

In December 2021, Dillard's Port Charlotte hosted the Women United affinity group of United Way of Charlotte County for their annual holiday gathering. This was a fun private shopping experience and a great way to visit with friends. Dillard's was so gracious to donate 10% of all purchases back to United Way of Charlotte County which totaled almost $600. These funds will be used to provide educational success, financial stability, and health & wellbeing for our community.

Traditionally, Women United of Charlotte County hosts its holiday party in the cozy atomospere of a member's home. This year when Max Troutner, Store Manager of Dillard's invited us in for a unique experience, we thought it would be an easy networking event to gather and enjoy each other. Thank you to our Women United Sponsors: The Bevis Realty Group, ShorePoint Health and WrightWay Emergency Services.

Women United is a global growing force of 70,000 + women dedicated to creating a world of opportunity - for everyone. Together, we will create lasting change to lift up entire communities.

Save the date, January 25, 2022 for our 6th annual Women United lunch at Carmelo's Italian Ristorante. Tickets will be on sale soon. Lunch Sponsorships are availble, by clicking here.

Papa John's Pizza Party

dforlini — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 17:43:50 +0000

Papa John's Pizza Party dforlini Fri, 12/10/2021 - 12:43pm

December 10, 2021

What sort of magician can turn a pizza party into educational success, financial stability, and health & wellbeing?

Papa John’s!

For every order of a large 2-topping pizza, 10” cheesesticks, and 2-liter soda through the end of this year, you can ask Papa John’s to donate $2.11 to United Way of Charlotte County (just use the code LIVE UNITED). And you get all of that for $22.11.

This unique partnership started over a year ago when Papa John’s reached out to the United Ways across southwest Florida. Since then, we have been encouraging you to throw a pizza party anywhere! In the boardroom, office, football gathering, birthday party, you name it!

Funds raised in Charlotte County support the work we do at UWCC to support your friends, family, and neighbors in need. Our work is focused on breaking the cycle of poverty in Charlotte County and we do that through combining forces – or, as we like to say, MOBILIZING!

There is still time to order your pizza and organize your holiday party while giving back to United Way of Charlotte County as this promotion goes through December 31, 2021. We have three Papa John's in Charlotte County, so call one of them today.

Our partnership with Papa John’s doesn’t stop there.

We were awarded a $10,000 grant from Papa John's Foundation in July 2021 to support our Kids Thrive Collaboration which helps families overcoming the effects of substance use. Kids Thrive promotes the parent-child bond while assisting in reducing the negative withdrawal symptoms to substance-exposed children.

The families in Kids Thrive are also ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) families, and food insecurity is a large issue for them. One goal of the Kids Thrive Collaboration is to provide resources and connect families to healthy food they may otherwise not have access to. Worden Farm in Punta Gorda helps connect these families to organic produce and healthy recipes to try with their families at home. Trips to the farm have led to increased social support and self-esteem to promote long-term health, healthy eating, and well-being.

Thank you, Papa John's Southwest Florida for supporting United Way. Your generosity helps us with our mission to mobilize our community to break the cycle of poverty in Charlotte County.