Newsletter 
  February - March 2019
  United Way of Knox County, Ohio

In This Letter

2018 Campaign

United Way on the road

After School Elementary Programs

Crunch Out

Dolly Parton's
Imagination Library

Free Tax Preparation Assistance 

Online Presence

2020 Program Investments

Growing Our Team

Annual Meeting

Volunteer Opportunities

Join us!

Upcoming 
United Way events

February 21, 2019
Annual Meeting
Celebrating Accomplishments of 2018
Call 740 392 5721

Spring 2019
Free Tax Preparation Assistant
Make an appointment by calling United Way at 740.397.5721

October through May
Afterschool Elementary Tutoring and Enrichment
East School Eagles' Nest and Dan Emmett Tiger Pride Club meet afterschool Monday through Thursday
To Volunteer, email [email protected]

Thursdays 5:30-6:30p.m.
YMCA Youth Enrichment
YMCA, OSU Extension and United Way join forces: Get a workout while your child learns something new each week! Free for YMCA members, $5 non-members
Call 740 392 9622

Daily
Edible Knox
305 E High Street and along Main Street and Downtown Mount Vernon

Email for more details.

Join Our Friends!

Upcoming 
Community Events

Wednesday, February 20
8 am - 4:30 pm
Mount Vernon City Schools
Why Teens Kill: featuring author Phil Chalmers
Knox County Memorial Building - 112 East High St., Mount Vernon

Tuesday, February 26
6  - 8 pm
TAC, New Directions, and KSAAT
Teens & Technology: Dating in a Digital World
Kenyon Wright Center Screening Room
400 S. Main St.

Feb 20, 10 -10:30 am
Feb 27, 6:30-8:30 pm
March 6, 6:30-8:30 pm
Gardening Education Series
Come to one or all of these free community events. Sponsored by Knox Community Hospital and  Get Healthy Knox County. Provided by the OSU Extension Office
at the Knox Medical Education Resource Center 
Call Annie Guinsler at 740-399-3755

Saturdays, 
April 20 - May 18
9 am - 5 pm
Mental Health and Recovery of Licking and Knox Counties
Peer Support  Certification Training
For more information contact  Emily Morrison or call 740.522.1234

Ongoing
Knox Out Tobacco
is looking for Service and Referral Providers
Contact Mike Whitaker 
740.392.2200 ext. 2233

1st Monday Each Month, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
the Freedom Center
Family Education Session
106 East Gambier St

During the School Year
Ohio Job and Family Services
New online Child Care Resource tool to find childcare before and after school.

Ongoing:
Get Healthy Knox County

Email for more details or to share your organization's events in the next newsletter!

In the News!

Recent Program and Community Events

Lecture Series focusing on the Drug Issue
Hosted at MVNU and open to the public. The series took place January 24, 25, and 26 featuring local community agencies

KSAAT
Released an Updated Resource Book

Crunch Out Celebration
Program celebration for Knox County 4th graders took place January 12

Women United
Our group was recently highlighted in the 
Mount Vernon News:

United Way Executive Director honored 
Kelly Brenneman and her family were honored at the annual Food for the Hungry Snowflake Gala, Dec. 7. The Brenneman family was featured in many 

United Way Campaign Videos released
Hear the United Way Stories
 

Email for more details or to share a story or event for the next newsletter.
Get Involved!

Active Enrollment Opportunities

Women United 
Utilizes the power of women to advance the common good in our community.

Imagination Library 
Encourages learning by providing free books to children birth to age 5.
 Email us to register, become a sponsor or to donate to the program

Knox County YMCA
Promotes health & fitness programs for all ages.

Muskingum Valley Council
Scouts are actively recruiting Boys AND girls for their scouting programs. Visit BeAScout.scouting.org and enter your zip code to find a troop 

Touchpointe KnoxWorks
Removes barriers for Neighbors in need of a second chance to transition to the workforce.
This is a win-win for both 

Email and tell us if you have an active program to include in our next letter.
 




uway knox
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"Coming together is a beginning;
keeping together is progress;
Working together is success"

- Historian, author, 
Edward Everett Hale

While we are excited to announce achievement of our $1,150,000 campaign goal, the work is by no means done. This is just the beginning - the programs supported with this funding are just now initiating. We will communicate program highlights and outcomes as we work through this year.

2018 United Way Campaign for the
2019 Investment Agenda

We are pleased and proud to announce that we have achieved our 2018 goal of raising $1,150,000 to support the Knox County programs of the 2019 Investment Agenda!


View the 2019 Investment Agenda online to learn about the Knox County programs that our funds raised will be applied to support.

Our partners are currently applying for 2020 program funding - a process that started in January 2019 and will conclude in late spring with the release of the 2020 Investment Agenda. We are busy as an organization preparing a  Strategic Plan. This plan will serve as our guide for building out the strategy for success and community impact for Knox County to achieve by 2025.
While we are no longer actively campaigning, donations and program sponsorships are always welcome (or inspire a culture of giving by donating in the name of a loved one). 
Use  this link to make an online donation or text UWay2018 to 41444 and follow the instructions in the return message.

Sharing Our United Way

In January and February our staff traveled out of the office and on the road to make a difference in our community. 



Our staff had a strong presence at United Way of Licking County Leadership & Board of Director's retreat, at the  Ariel Corporation's Wellness Event,  CADCA's (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America)  29th Annual National Leadership Forum & SAMHSA's 15th Prevention Day, and in the coming weeks part of our staff will attend  United Way's Fundraising for Impact Summit.


While we were thrilled at the opportunities to travel to share the work done in Knox County, we are most excited to be back to work to apply the information gained and strategies learned now that we are back home.


After School Elementary Programs
 
United Way launched Eagles' Nest after school program at East Elementary School in the 2017 to 2018 school year. The program boasts improved classroom performance and testing on grade level for all participants in its first year.  This year's participants experience similar academic success. The Eagles' Nest students, teachers, student aid, Eagles Nest coordinator Marilyn Nagy, and United Way program director and frequent Eagles' Nest activity leader and tutor Elizabeth Doolittle are pictured in their program t-shirts, which were distributed in January.



Encouraged by the success of Eagles, Nest, a second United Way after school program was launched this year at Dan Emmett Elementary school.  The Mount Vernon News has  prepared an article about the programs.

Thank you to our program sponsors:

Eyrie Level Sponsors
David Perry and Associates, Inc
Huntington National Bank
The Energy Cooperative

Convocation Level Sponsors
Knox Community Hospital
Joe and Krys Mortellaro

Fledgling Level Sponsor
Dr. Kenneth Doolittle II



Eagles' Nest and Tiger Pride Club are actively recruiting volunteer tutors. Volunteer, become a program sponsor, or learn more about the programs by contacting [email protected] or calling United Way at 740.397.5721
uwayknox.org/eagle

Crunch Out Celebration

This fall, 639 students from 11 Knox County Elementary schools took part in the Crunch Out program. Since the program piloted in 2013, over 3,400 children and their families have participated.  It promotes life-long wellness to prevent health problems associated with poor nutrition and activity.

The program culminates in the "How I am Living Healthy" Essay contest. All students who completed an essay receive a prize. Community members from our program partners helped review essays and selected the top classroom and school essays. These students were honored in a program celebration on January 12, and the overall Knox County Crunch Out Essay Contest winner was announced.



Congratulations Isabelle of East Knox Elementary school, our 2018 Crunch Out Knox County winner.


Program Partners
Knox County Health Department
YMCA of Mount Vernon
Knox Communiy Hospital
Get Healthy Knox County

Gold Medal Contributors 
Knox Community Hospital
Richard I. & Arline J. Landers Foundation

Silver Metal Contributors
Wayne McAvory, Robert Sands, Drew Barnhart, Mr. & Mrs. Dennis Lower

To become a program sponsor or read more about the program, visit our website
uwayknox.org/crunch

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Through our Imagination Library program, United Way has been providing free books to Knox County children, delivered right to their homes. The program helps foster a love of reading, learning, and encourages families to spend time to read together.

Thank you to our program sponsors:

Dolly Level
Knox County Foundation
Edward Jones Financial, Sara Mankins
Joe and Krys Motellaro

Librarian Level
Ariel Corporation
First-Knox National Bank
Kiwanis Club of Mount Vernon
Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities
The Energy Cooperative

Reading Group Level
Mount Vernon Rotary Foundation

Free Tax Preparation Assistance

Since 2007, United Way of Knox County Ohio, Inc has been offering free tax preparation assistance. Our dedicated staff and team of tax preparation volunteers will assist clients in using The Ohio Benefit Bank's web-based program to prepare both Federal and State Taxes.


This program saves qualifying clients from paying costly fees to prepare simple tax filings. We help our clients boost savings by making sure that they claim appropriate tax credits, such as the Earned Income Credit and Child Care Credit.

Find out more about the program  online. Call our office at 740.397.5721 to find out if you qualify.

Activating Our Online Presence

Many of you may have noticed our new and more active online presence. We have increased our communications on 
Facebook, made it a priority to create new content on 
our website, and have implemented a bi-monthly schedule for our newsletter.  Please take a moment to check out the website, 

Now Accepting Program Investment Applications for 2020 funding
 

Contact [email protected] 


Welcome, Allison Glass

Meet Allison, our new Resource Development Coordinator.

Allison brings knowledge and experience in the
nonprofit area, having previously served with Main Street Mount Vernon and the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio. Her background is in journalism and digital media from Ashland University and she previously worked for the Mount Vernon News. 
Allison has found enthusiasm in community connections and service. She is very excited to be able to stay in her hometown of Mount Vernon and Knox County, and to support the mission of United Way, connecting neighbors in need to vital resources, in the community that raised her.

United Way Annual Meeting


Annual Meeting of United Way of Knox County
Thursday, February 21, 2019 - 12 P.M.
The Alcove Restaurant & Lounge
116 South Main Street, Mount Vernon

Annual Meeting Business Items Include:
  • President's Annual Report
  • Community Partner and Volunteer Recognition
  • Campaign Update
  • Highlights of new programming in 2018!
  • Board Elections
  • Opportunities to watch for in 2019

Call for Volunteers
 
Would you like to volunteer to serve our Knox County Community?

Active Volunteer Opportunities

Eagles' Nest after school program
at East Elementary School in Mount Vernon
is actively seeking volunteers to serve as tutors 
Monday through Thursday, 3:30-5pm
Contact United Way at 740.397.5721

Tiger Pride Club after school program
at Dan Emmett School in Mount Vernon
is actively seeking volunteers to serve as tutors 
Monday through Thursday, 3:30-5pm
Contact United Way at 740.397.5721

Interchurch Social Services
Knox County Locations
Opportunities vary
740.397.4825

The Winter Sanctuary
Volunteers will oversee the guests  and assist to operate the shelter
740.392.9277

United Way Free Tax Preparation Assistance
Learn to E-file using the Ohio Benefit Bank's online Tax Preparation Assistance Program

We aim to make United Way activities a reflection of Knox County's priorities. We rely on community volunteers to lead the process, we strive to LIVE UNITED.