MORE WINNERS

We have two more winners this week. Karen McMullin from Securities won a beautiful set of knives donated by the Utah Food Bank.

Robyn Barkdull from DOPL won the gift basket with donations from United Way, The Happy Factory, Utah Girl Scouts and Utah Open Lands.

The campaign ends next Friday, November 4th, so don't miss your chance to be eligible for the next drawing. The sooner you donate, the better your chance of winning a prize. More importantly, don't miss your chance to help Utah's charities bolster communities throughout our great state. It's the kindness exhibited by people like you who make Utah such a great place to live

To donate visit http://www.usecf.state.ut.us/ From there, sign in and select from a vast list of charitable organizations. You can choose to either have your donation automatically deducted from your paychecks, or you can make a one-time pledge and send a check to our department coordinators; Mia Larsen, Admin or Valeri Stewart, Corporations.

FOURTH STREET CLINIC

Fourth Street Clinic was founded in 1988 by Dr. Allan Ainsworth inside a cleaned out office across the street from Utah's largest emergency shelter. The triage clinic was staffed with one part-time nurse who relied heavily on hospitals for patient treatments.

Today, with a staff of 45 and a volunteer network of more than 200, Fourth Street Clinic is a comprehensive health care home that serves 6,500 homeless men, women and children with 30,000 primary care, behavioral health and specialty care visits. Fourth Street Clinic dispenses 40,000 medications annually.

By increasing homeless Utahns access to primary care, Fourth Street Clinic is a major partner in ending homelessness, promoting community health, and achieving across-the-board health care savings. For many patients, the clinic is their first and only chance at proper diagnosis and treatment. Good physical and mental health is the foundation for transitioning back into permanent housing. Many chronically homeless Utahns ignore their health problems for decades; many are also alcoholics which, coupled with street living, leaves their bodies compromised. Simple problems often turn into health crises and can cost thousands of dollars if they go untreated.

For more information visit http://www.fourthstreetclinic.org/

 If you missed "Turning Point" featuring Adopt A Native Elder when it was first broadcasted, you can view it here:
http://byutv.org/watch/937a3970-27a0-4c49-82f6-278f8ea92f60

Can you spot a familiar face?

ANE blog post about the food run that took place last May:
http://anelder.blogspot.com/2011/05/food-run-report-many-farms-5511.html

Running for A Good Cause

If you meet Erika and Maria from the Division of Public Utilities you are most often greeted with a warm smile and positive attitude. Both young ladies are a great asset to the Commerce Charity Committee. They seem to be always looking for ways to make a difference. Congratulations on finishing the 5K race. We can't wait to hear what you are doing next!

Erika and Maria at the Charity Carnival.

This past Saturday, we had the honor of running the 5K charity race for the Heartbeats for Heartland, which benefits the Hartland Center of Salt Lake.  The Heartland Center is an organization that supports 800 residents, 75% of whom are non‑native English speaking immigrants or refugees.  It was great to see a large gathering of people there to support the organization, and sacrifice their Saturday morning for a good cause.  We even recruited a State of Utah employee from another Department - Chris Pacheco from DHS, to run with us!  The day was a win-win for all of us.  Not only did we support a charity, but we got a great workout!   

Erika Tedder & Maria Martinez

Division of Public Utilities

Campaign Statistics

We only have about two weeks left of the Charitable Contributions Campaign. The campaign ends on November 4th. So far this year Commerce employees have raised $9,173.60 toward different charities. Last years campaign raised $15,404.78. In the 2011 campaign, a total of 112 employees out of 239 made a contribution. So far this year we have only had less than 27% of the employees contribute.

Please remember there is no minimum donation amount, every penny counts. You can either donate through payroll or make a one time donation (check or cash). If you are hesitant using the computer, please contact any committee member and they will be happy to help you.

http://www.usecf.state.ut.us/

Participation:

DPU 62%
CORP 56%
OPRO 50%
Securities 48%
Admin 42%
OCS 17%
Real Estate 15%
CP 10%
DOPL 5%

Committee members are: Valeri Stewart, Karen Wicker, Julie Price, Bela Vastag, Marv Everett, Tracy Naff, Dane Ishihara, Cyndy Nelson, Liz Blaylock, Erika Tedder, Maria Martinez, and Mia Larson.


"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little". Edmund Burke

Become a member of the 1% Club

The State Employees Charitable Fund recognizes State employees who contribute generously. Any employee who donates 1% or more of their annual gross salary to charities through the Charitable Fund is eligible for special recognition.

Take your current hourly rate and multiply it by the 2088; the amount available on the pay plan for the current fiscal year. That amount is your Total Gross Salary. Multiply that amount by 1%
(.01) Divide that amount by 26 pay periods. That will be your deduction per pay period.

Link to the formula: http://www.usecf.state.ut.us/onepercent/onepercent.html

Hats Off and Much Appreciation to the 1% Club!

DID YOU KNOW?

$1.00 donation will provide:

• a can of tuna and a package of crackers to a person who cannot take their HIV medication without food


• something a needy child may never have - a book
  


• a meal for a homebound elder

$1.00 per paycheck (price of a candy bar) will provide:

• A six month supply of syringes for a diabetic patient



• A year's worth of sports equipment for a Special Olympics athlete
  


• Transportation to a doctor's appointment for two senior citizens for 1 year
  


• Food, litter and toys for four kittens
  

$2 per week (price of an energy drink) will provide:

• A mammogram screening




• A day of summer camp for a child with epilepsy




• A year's worth of sports equipment for a Special olympics athlete




• Infant/Child CPR training for two early childhood teachers




• USDA nutritional snacks for one youth for a year




• Housing counseling for three families to avoid foreclosure




• Medication management by an RN for four abused and neglected teens in a residential treatment facility

$5 per week (price of a premium coffee) will provide:

• The cost of a two-week summer enrichment program for a four year old




• 100 days of quality after-school programming at a child's school




• Group therapy for 16 teenagers to teach them anger management skills to help reduce violent juvenile crime
  
  Any small donation can make a big difference
  

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. --Mother Teresa

CureSearch for Children's Cancer

Cancer entered my family's life at the end of my seventh grade year, in April 2000. I had been experiencing significant back pain for several months, and was diagnosed with pre-cursor B cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoblastic Lymphoma-stage III.

Luckily, the tumor had grown into a nerve and this is why my back pain was so intense. If it hadn't grown into a nerve, we might not have found it in time.

I began a chemotherapy protocol on April 21, 2000. My treatment lasted for two years, and during that time I experienced a multitude of physical, mental and emotional side effects like so many cancer patients do. I am so, so grateful to all of my doctors, nurses, family and friends, and so many others who helped me and prayed for me throughout my cancer battle.

I now serve as a team leader for CureSearch. As a childhood cancer survivor, I know the importance of using my voice as much as possible to be heard. I am passionate about childhood cancer research and advocacy -- and having gone through and survived the disease, I feel it's my duty to speak for those who've sadly lost their fight. It's not fair and it will never be justified for just one child to lose their life to this terrible disease. I cannot say enough about CureSearch's leaders and dedicated volunteers who help childhood cancer survivors like me to eliminate cancer.

--Caroline S. Hale
Project Coordinator, Pediatric Services Development

You can access the website at http://www.curesearch.org/

This Weeks Winner!

Congratulations Paul Hicken with the Dept. of Public Utilities!!!  Paul won this week's drawing for the gift basket.  We will have another drawing next week, so if you haven't already, DON'T FORGET TO DONATE!!!!

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  ~Anne Frank

If you are ready to donate please go to http://www.usecf.state.ut.us/.

1. Click on “Pledge Online Now”
2. Next you will be prompted to enter your e-mail address and LAN password
3. Select your contribution type (Payroll Deduction or One Time Contribution)
4. Choose your favorite charity/charities (you can search by entering keywords). You can choose more than one charity for your donation. 

Please note that you can copy your last year’s donation by clicking on the box titled “I want to copy last year’s contributions into this year.” You will still be able to edit and alter your contributions.

5. Enter the amount you would like to donate
6. Confirm your donation and PRINT a copy for your records. The print button is located in the bottom left corner next to the “finish” button. This will be your only opportunity to print your receipt.

 More detailed instructions can be found at http://www.usecf.state.ut.us/Docs/2012/USECFonlinetraining9-20-11.pdf

How to make pledges to non-listed charities and get certain organizations added to the master list of participating 501(c) 3s:

-Please use the hard-copy pledge form found at the home page http://www.usecf.state.ut.us

-Provide the contact information for the agency where you want your donation to go (name, address, and phone number)

-If choosing a payroll deduction method, sign the authorization form

-For a one-time pledge, attach a check or cash donation to the pledge form

-Submit the form to your division coordinator

If you need help donating or have questions about the campaign please don’t hesitate to ask!

Erica

Canine Companions for Independence

Canine Companions for Independence provide highly-trained assistance dogs for children and adults with disabilities, free of charge! CCI was founded in 1975 and since then there has been 3,683 graduate teams. CCI trains four types of assistance dogs:


Service Teams- assist adults with physical disabilities by performing daily tasks

Hearing Teams- alert the deaf and hard of hearing to important sounds

Skilled Companion Teams-enhance independence for children and adults with physical, cognitive and developmental disabilities

Facility Teams- work with a professional in a visitation, education or healthcare setting
 
Susan Daynes and Diva Interview

Kelly's Story

Spanish Fork Skilled Companion Team: Kandace, Hal, and Sawyer

 Sawyer is 10 years old and has had his canine companion, Hal, for almost 2 ½ years. Hal is a service animal provided by Canine Companions for Independence. For approximately $100, Sawyer, his mom Kandace, and his sister, Erica, spent 2 weeks in California where they were trained on how to manage and utilize a companion dog. They are now a Skilled Companion Team with full public access. Previous to Hal, Sawyer would not sleep in his bed at night, refused dental and doctor visits, could not go to restaurants or movies, struggled on family vacations, was absent from family parties, among other typical Autistic behaviors. Since receiving Hal, Sawyer sleeps in his own bed all night. He is the kid with the cool dog in his mainstream 4^th grade classroom, instead of the kid who is weird or different. Sawyer shook hands with over 500 people at Erica’s wedding with Hal at his side in a matching bowtie. He willingly goes to the dentist and doctor since Hal is allowed to ‘visit’ during the examination. Hal rides in his kennel on a special platform Sawyer’s Dad built onto the back of an ATV, so now Sawyer is able to participate in family ATV trips. Sawyer loves to go to CCI fundraisers and awareness events so he can tell strangers what Hal has done for him. He doesn’t always look strangers in the eye, but he will interact with them. Hal’s favorite outing is the movie theater because Sawyer slips him pieces of popcorn. We are truly grateful for CCI and the impact they have had not only on Sawyer, but our entire family. Hal also has a special bond with Rhett, Sawyer’s older brother with Asperger’s Syndrome. We all love that dog, and he has made us complete. We look forward to many new opportunities for Sawyer with Hal at his side.

 

This story and more can be found in the Wasatch Champions' blog: wasatchchampions.blogspot.com

CCI website: http://www.cci.org

Donation code: 4109

The Utah Council of the Blind (UCB)

The UCB sends teams of teachers/trainers into the community to help people who have lost their sight or who are losing their sight. They teach them to remain independent in their homes. These teams have both a blind and a sighted member.

These people are located and given assistance with marking appliances, acquiring magnifying devices, networking with community services and learning to use a cane to move safely about the home and yard. They have learned where to find treatment for eye diseases and have been referred to independent living centers and Vocational Rehabilitation services to receive training to return to work.

One team worked with a teenager to teach her how to pour water without spilling it and how to tie her shoes. These are all things she should have learned years before. The ten teams have had a great impact on individuals who have retreated into their homes to be recluses or who had thought life was over for them.

A great benefit of this project is the fact that ten people with sight loss have also found jobs as members of these teams. Thanks to all who donate to make these and other programs like these possible.

For more information, check our website at http://www.utahcounciloftheblind.org/

Utah State Library Blind Services

Wasatch Community Gardens

Founded in 1989, Wasatch Community Gardens works to empower people of all ages and incomes to grow and eat healthy, organic, local food. We have provided gardening education and opportunities to record numbers of people in our community--over 6,700 during the past year alone! Wasatch Community Gardens achieves its mission by providing access to gardening, land, and education.

Access to Gardening and Land

Through the Community Gardening Program, we endeavor to provide community members of all income levels the opportunity to grow their own food by providing the garden space, knowledge, and tools. We run seven community gardens in the Salt Lake area with 120 garden plots available for growing fresh produce. In 2010 we launched the Sharing Backyards Project in partnership with Urban Village Cooperative. This online mapping program connects aspiring but land-less gardeners with landowners who are willing to share their yards. In 2010 we also launched Wasatch Community Gardens Network Project with the goal of creating a network of sustainable, flourishing community gardens in Salt lake County with a focus on low-income neighborhoods. We assist local organizations and community groups wishing to start their own community gardens by providing training, resources, networking opportunities, staff consultation, reference materials, and a tool lending library. There are currently 22 community gardens.

Access to Education

The Youth Gardening Program empowers youth with the skills, awareness and knowledge to grow and harvest food and to taste and prepare new fruits and vegetables, in order to make healthy choices for themselves and the environment. Over the past year, more than 1,500 urban youth along Utah's Wasatch Front participated in our youth programs, including City Roots youth gardening classes, City Sprouts summer camps, youth field trips and school gardening programs. Through the Community Education Program, we offer diverse organic gardening and sustainable food workshops, print and online educational resources, and direct outreach activities. In 2010, approximately 900 people attended 30 workshops, with topics including composting, raising urban chickens, fall and winter planting, and food preservation.

For more information about our community and education programs, please visit our website at http://www.wasatchgardens.org/.

Art Access/VSA Utah

Art Access/VSA Utah provides equal opportunities to inclusive arts programs for Utahns with disabilities and those with limited access to the arts.

Through its 11 signature programs and two galleries, Art Access is the only arts organization in Utah whose focus is serving individuals with disabilities.

At Art Access, we strongly believe in the power of art to cause change and impact humanity, and the proof is in our participant experiences. For example, programs such as our Integrated Arts in Utah Schools in partnership with the Utah State Office of Education's Special Education Services gives children a voice through the common language that art creates. Adults who experience our Artist Residencies for Adults with Disabilities program in institutions or community social services programs are shown to have improved mood and mental function and better health as a result. Teens participating in our Literary Arts and Teen Artist workshops gain self-esteem and self-awareness, overcome a range of circumstances that have sometimes hindered cognitive, social and emotional development, and have a better chance of staying in school and leading productive lives as adults. Artists with disabilities participating in our Adult Artist Workshops and Partners Mentoring programs learn skills that further their opportunities to gain self-reliance as working artists. Art TREATS (Targeted Rural Education in the Arts Through Sustainability) expands our services to underserved rural communities that have little or no access to the arts and arts education, ensuring that individuals with disabilities are better integrated into their communities. We are both proud and encouraged by the success and outcomes of our long-established programs.

Our philosophy in all aspects of our programming is inclusion, which incorporates persons with no discernible disabilities in activities for persons with disabilities. We are deeply committed to providing opportunities that foster a sense of belonging to people with all types of disabilities, encouraging them to interact and develop relationships with individuals without disabilities. Through education and engagement, Art Access has seen that inclusion helps build stronger connections and a more cohesive community.

Art Access/VSA Utah was founded in 1984 and is a leading affiliate of VSA International, founded in 1974 by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to create a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in and enjoy the arts. Art Access serves approximately 20,000 people in Utah.

For more information on our programs, please visit the Art Access /VSA Utah website at www.accessart.org.

DRAWING WINNERS

Dee Thorell, DOPL was the winner of the prize basket giveaway. Her name was drawn from those who attended the Charity Carnival. Thanks to Michaels Crafts for the beautiful gift basket.

Brent Bateman, Ombudsman and Tyler Clawson, Admin were the winners of the Repertory Dance Theater tickets.

Congratulations, winners!

There will be another big drawing on Friday, October 14. You can enter by doing one of the following:

1. Submit a one time donation or pledge through payroll deduction on the website at
http://www.usecf.state.ut.us/
2. Bring a can of food for the Utah Food Bank
3. Submit a completed Charity Quiz

We will be having a drawing every week, so the sooner you enter and the more you participate, the better your chances of winning.

Good Luck!

CHARITY KICK OFF CARNIVAL

Our campaign began on Monday, October 3^rd with a Kickoff Carnival held in the lobby of the Heber Wells Building.  There were many different charities represented with information about their specific cause.  It was a fun event with balloons, popcorn, cookies and most importantly, your chance to take a closer look at the charities.  

Anyone who attended the event received a raffle ticket for a chance at a gorgeous gift basket donated from Michaels Crafts.

Contributions made through the program impact a wide

range of problems, and help to improve the lives of countless individuals in need. Your gift will be working every day of the year, helping others to help themselves.   Thank you for your generosity.

Utah Food Bank





Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs







Peace House for Domestic Violence



Repertory Dance Theater







Splore                     Ronald McDonald House








Community Shares/Utah

 











LDS Humanitarian Services









Utah Girl Scouts



Utah Rescue Mission





Adopt a Native Elder







Shriners Hospital

There are hundreds of other charities who qualify to participate in this year’s campaign.

Visit the State website at http://www.usecf.state.ut.us/ for a complete list of all the charities and to make your pledge for next year.

   

 

"Thank You for Feeding Me Today"

Few things are more satisfying in life than having someone who has had a hard life look you in the eyes and say, “thank you for feeding me today.”   We go about our daily lives, and a trip to the grocery store followed by cooking for ourselves seems like nothing, but to the homeless in Utah, it is unreachable.  We had the blessed opportunity to help the less fortunate in Utah yesterday.  We volunteered with Eagle Ministries, a non-profit organization who feeds the needy every Sunday and on Thanksgiving, in downtown SLC. 

We arrived at 7AM and helped set up the make-shift kitchen.  We chopped, mixed, and cooked an entire breakfast - including freshly ground coffee, for 300 hungry people.  It was very heartbreaking to see the homeless, hungry, and needy line up for a meal, but it was heartwarming to be able to serve our fellow man.  We worked until noon, and are looking forward to going back and doing it again!

Erika Tedder & Maria Martinez
Public Utilities