Women UNITED August 2017 Newsletter

August 2017

WOMEN UNITED SERVICE ACTIVITIES

UPCOMING

Food Packaging Fun for a Good Cause

Thursday, September 7th

Diamond Jo Harbor Room, 3:30-5:30 pm

Women UNITED will support ten teams vying for the AWESOME noodle trophy. The goal is to package 25,000 meals for distribution to local food pantries. For more information email admin@dbqunitedway.org

Story-time at Carnegie Stout Library

Thursday September 14th

Thursday October 12th

Thursday November 9th

Thursday December 14th

Carnegie Stout Public Library 6:30-7 pm

Women UNITED will be sponsoring an evening story-time where each child will enjoy hearing great stories and go home with a new free book from each session. For ages 3 and up with their favorite adult.

Women United Social

Tuesday November 14th

United Way Office (215 W. 6th Street) 5:30 pm

Please join us at a holiday social and learn more about Women UNITED and the initiatives we support. We ask that each attendee bring one or more gently used books (for ages Birth to 12) for use in our Little Free Libraries.

RECENT

Back to School Bash

Women UNITED attended the Back to School Bash, providing bottled water, bags of chips, and information on Sprout Into Reading. We were also able to place a Litttle Free Library at Comiskey Park after this event.

Filling up Little Free Libraries, thanks to Women UNITED

Women UNITED had purchased nine additional pre-built libraries for distribution in the 10-county United Way service area and is seeking partnering organizations that will install the libraries, as well as provide ongoing maintenance. The goal is to provide 24/7 access to books (and encouraging a love of reading!) in areas where books are scarce.

A Little Free Library has recently been installed at Comiskey Park in Dubuque after our Back to School Bash.

We are also looking for partners in the community that would be interested in having a Little Free Library in their neighborhood.

We would also like to send a special thank you to Ronnie Wolf, who provided over 80 hours of his time to construct and paint our new Little Free Libraries.

Organizations interested in co-sponsoring a Little Free Library can learn if they qualify by emailing admin@dbqunitedway.org. Please state Little Free Library in the email subject line.

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities!

Community Clothes Closet

Volunteer opportunities for the Community Clothes Closet are on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 5 pm. This opportunity would include sorting, steaming, and keeping the closet in order.

Story-Time

Do you like reading, singing and doing crafts? Women UNITED has partnered with the Carnegie Stout Public Library to do these fun activities during story time, which is held on the 2nd Thursday of each month from 6:30-7 pm.

Drives

Would you like to help in the coordination to collect items for non-profits in our communities? Women UNITED organizes drives and collections for items such as: gently used books, hygiene products, food, etc.

Community Events

Do you like to join in community events and fundraisers? Women UNITED often participates in events and fundraisers throughout the community to assist in awareness and fundraising.

Little Free Libraries & Sprout Into Reading

Are you passionate about getting books into the hands of low-income children? Help us with our Little Free Libraries and Sprout Into Reading initiative and provide free books for children in our community.

For any information on how to get involved please contact admin@dbqunitedway.org

COMMUNITY CLOTHES CLOSET

The Community Clothes Closet sponsored by Women UNITED continues to serve individuals in need of gently used employment-related clothing.

Located in the lower level of NICC's Town Clock Center at 680 Main Street, the closet is open during NICC open hours.

Interested in helping?

Volunteers are needed on the first Wednesdays of the month at noon and the third Thursday of month at 5 p.m. for clothes sorting, steaming and other tasks in order to maintain the closet. Each volunteer session lasts about an hour but the length of time is dependent on the tasks to be completed. Email admin@dbqunitedway.org for info.

Sprout into Reading Update

Women UNITED has partnered with Carnegie Stout Library for Story-time. Story-times will be held on the Second Thursday from September through December from 6:30-7pm at the Carnegie Stout Public Library.

Women UNITED will be providing a book for story-time, and each child will get receive a copy to take home. Story-time will also include crafts and songs. All these things focus on early literacy and engaging families.

This opportunity is another great way to get free books into children's hands and encourage reading at home. Research shows that increasing exposure to a variety of books as well as the amount of time being read to is a step in increasing a child's school readiness.

WU LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

Katie Lange	Judy Wolf
Karen Babler	Tanya Moore
Beth Triplett	Julie Kouba

If you are interested in learning more about Women UNITED, programs we are working on, and/or ways to participate, please call United Way at

(563) 588-1415 or email Katie Lange or Judy Wolf.

Learn more about Women UNITED here!

"In American Society today, we need to have volunteerism. I truly believe that it is the glue that will hold us together and it will be the energy that will take us into the 21st century."

Barbara Michalski

Former United States Senator

In office from 1987 - 2017

FEATURED LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MEMBER


Karen Babler Karen has been a member of Women UNITED since it began in 2014. She lives outside of East Dubuque, IL with her husband and two kids. Their son is in 2nd grade and daughter in Kindergarten at Our Lady of Guadalupe school in Dubuque. Karen works at John Deere as a financial analyst and was introduced to the United Way through work. Why do I volunteer with Women UNITED? "I have volunteered on the budget committee in the past and enjoyed learning about the impact the funded programs have on our community. I wanted to take another step further and get more actively involved with volunteering. Through Women UNITED I have learned about areas for improvement in our community and have been involved with the ongoing programs such as the Community Clothes Closet, Sprout into Reading and the one-time service projects. I have enjoyed doing hands-on work where I can see the results and positive impact on people's lives!" _________________________________________ HOW YOU CAN JOIN Women UNITED Membership - Charter Women UNITED members have pledged $1,000 as a new contribution or in addition to their annual United Way campaign contribution. - Visionary Women UNITED members annually pledge $500 to the annual United Way campaign. - ALL women are welcome to participate in Women UNITED-sponsored volunteer activities.