Nearly 400 help kick off a day of giving back
(Blackhawk Region) – United Way Blackhawk Region kicked off its annual community campaign at an event on Wednesday, September 13 at the Eclipse Center in Beloit. The breakfast was attended by 385 United Way supporters, corporate partners, and Day of Caring volunteers.
United Way’s Day of Caring is held every year in conjunction with the campaign kickoff. It is a day of action that mobilizes volunteer teams to complete service projects at local schools, parks, and nonprofit agencies. Mike Stormes, Volunteer Coordinator for Day of Caring and a loaned executive from Mulehide Products touted another successful year of community engagement.
“Today, we are excited to send 575 volunteers out to roll up their sleeves and work on 53 community service projects. Day of Caring is made possible by our sponsors and the 35 companies that afford their employees time to volunteer,” Stormes said. “We’re also appreciative to the 34 nonprofits hosting Day of Caring projects. It’s a big job to take on, even with the obvious benefits. Their careful preparation makes Day of Caring a high point of the year and a valuable experience for all.”
At the breakfast event, United Way unveiled its next “GIVE & WIN” Sweepstakes including the top prize, a 2023 Chevrolet Trailblazer, sponsored by an anonymous corporate partner. Playing on a theme, blazing a trail to build a stronger community served as United Way’s resounding call to action.
United Way officials also announced the 2023 campaign goal to raise $2.1 million, as approved by the volunteer board of directors. The annual fundraising drive supports community grants and initiatives aligned with United Way’s impact areas of health, education, and financial stability.
“Every individual who pledges a financial contribution to United Way is a trailblazer,” said United Way Blackhawk Region Board Chair Derek Hahn. “With your support, we build a path to a stronger Blackhawk Region culminating in improved access to medical, dental, and mental health care; enriching educational opportunities; and financial stability for individuals and families in crisis.”
The event concluded with an acoustic guitar performance and audience sing-along led by Greg Winkler.
To learn how you can be automatically entered to win the 2023 Chevy Trailblazer in United Way Blackhawk Region’s “Give & WIN” Sweepstakes, visit LiveUnitedBR.org/sweepstakes.
About United Way’s Day of Caring Sponsors
Day of Caring is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors, as well as a grant from the Volunteer Generation Fund in partnership with AmeriCorps. Sponsorship dollars afford hundreds of volunteers a Day of Caring t-shirt and help to offset the costs of an exciting breakfast event.
- ABC Supply Co. inc
- Alliant Energy
- Andritz
- Beloit Health System
- Blackhawk Bank
- Blackhawk Community Credit Union
- BMO
- Culver’s of Beloit – in honor of Barb Mallon
- Data Dimensions
- Ecolab
- Educators Credit Union
- Fairbanks Morse Defense First National Bank & Trust Company
- Frito Lay
- Hagen CPAs
- Johnson Financial Group
- Kerry
- Mercyhealth
- Mid-States Concrete Industries
- Regal Rexnord
- SSI Technologies
- Valmet
- Wegner CPAs
- Wells Fargo Advisors
About the GIVE & WIN™ Sweepstakes
In 2022, United Way Blackhawk Region commemorated its 10th anniversary of unification with a first-ever “GIVE & Win” Sweepstakes. United Way’s volunteer leadership determined that incentivized giving is an innovative and effective strategy to cultivate new donors, as well as inspire increased contributions from loyal supporters. Inclusion of a sweepstakes in the 2023 community campaign is part of an ongoing effort to revive fundraising to pre-pandemic levels. All sweepstakes prizes were sponsored or donated; full details and official Sweepstakes Rules are available at LiveUnitedBR.org/Sweepstakes.
About Greg Winkler
Greg Winkler, LCSW, works at Rock County Human Services as a Deputy Director and lives in Janesville. He has worked in the social work field in Rock County for most of the last 30 years and graciously shared his musical talent at United Way Blackhawk Region’s Day of Caring and Campaign Kickoff Breakfast.
About United Way Blackhawk Region
United Way fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community. We win by Living United, by forging unlikely partnerships and by finding new solutions to old problems; by mobilizing the best resources; and inspiring individuals to join the fight against a common foe, each community’s most daunting social crises. United Way Blackhawk Region provides community grants and resources to 28 human services programs at 15 nonprofit agencies in Rock County, Wis. and northern Winnebago County, Ill. More information is available at LiveUnitedBR.org.
