October 2019 Newsletter
In this issue:
  • 2019-2020 Campaign Updates
  • Volun-Beer: Education Pillar
  • Stand Down for Homelessness "There's No Place Like Home"
Upcoming
  • Volun-Beer: Income Pillar
  • Over The Edge 2020
  • Volunteer Opportunities
Campaign Updates
As we continue the 2019-2020 campaign to reach our goal to reach $1.5M, we are excited to share about our collaboration and work with great businesses and our Funded Partners. During the month of September:

Andersen Windows and Doors, Diamond Jo Casino, Dubuque Screw, Dupaco, Emmaus Bible College, Fedex and Q Casino ran their campaigns this month showing their support for United Way.

Progressive Processing hosted their campaign day for United Way and had Mentor Dubuque and the Boys & Girls Club present. They also provided some great incentives to employees and had some fun things planned like a chili cook off!

Klauer Manufacturing held their campaign this month and had United Way present along with the Boys & Girls Club.

Honkamp Krueger started their campaign this month and had Catholic Charities present to their employees for their United Way campaign.

Our Funded Partners have also been hard at work providing much needed services, and running United Way campaigns with their employees. More campaign updates to come each month!

Thank you Andersen Windows & Doors, Dupaco, Emmaus Bible College, Fedex, Q Casino, Progressive Processing, Klauer Manufacturing, Diamond Jo, Honkamp Krueger and to all our Funded Partners! We are stronger together!

Help us reach this goal by donating today!
Volun-Beer: Education Pillar

Let's create Literacy Kits!



Did you know in Iowa:
-1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read.
-Nearly 30% of Iowa’s Kindergarten through third-grade students are failing to meet educational benchmarks on reading.
-In middle-income neighborhoods, the ratio of books per child is 13 to 1, in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children!
-61% of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for their children.
-Children who aren’t reading at grade level by the end of third grade are four times as likely to drop out of high school.

The single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school.


With community support, United Way has assisted our community in receiving:
-Over 5,000 books distributed to area youth.
-Over 1,400 youth were provided with educational opportunities including mentoring and leadership & character building.
-Over 1,400 hours of mentoring were provided to area youth and over 50 local students and 70 local community members were provided with vocational and educational training.

In order to create early literacy opportunities, volunteers came together at Dimensional Brewing Co. on Tuesday October 15th. 100 kits were created in order to provide early literacy opportunities for the local community. The kits were distributed to:

Women United's Sprout Into Reading Initiative
Dubuque Community YMCA/YWCA
St. Mark Youth Enrichment

"First of all, what a great event! The literacy activity packets will be so helpful as we plan to keep a few extra activity bags (we had multiples given to us) we can use at our before and after school sites as well as send activity bags home with our students. We are always looking for ways we can support and encourage our St. Mark parents to assist in strengthening their child's social/emotional and academic skills!" Mel Dill, Education Coordinator at St. Mark Youth Enrichment

Thanks to the volunteers that created these kits and to Alliant Energy Foundation for funding these kits.

See below for the upcoming Volun-Beer event in November!
The 3rd Annual Stand Down to End Homelessness had over 100 community participants in attendance and over 40 vendors with services including: employment, education, housing/shelter, emergency food, veteran services and more. The Stand Down is focused on providing a "care fair" for any community member experiencing a housing crisis and veterans. This event allows community members a one-stop shop to community services and provides the opportunity to learn about services and set up appointments.


Thank you to all the non-profits, volunteers, vendors and sponsors that made this event possible. Stay tuned for more information on next year's event.
Mark your calendars for our Over The Edge 2020 event for Friday June 26th, 2020! Stay tuned for more information !
Volunteer Opportunities!
The Dubuque Museum of Art's Annual Gala and Auction is the museum's largest fundraiser of the year! Celebrating and benefiting Iowa's oldest cultural institution, the evening includes exceptional dining, and entertainment.
All proceeds from the event directly benefit the museum's education and community outreach programs, which serve more than 12,000 people annually.
Volunteers are needed for registration, coat check, spotters for the live auction and check-out at the end of the evening. 
4-4:30 pm will be training/introduction to your volunteer post. Volunteers are requested to be ready for the event by 4:30 pm. The event will conclude by 10:00 pm.


Mentor Dubuque is looking for mentors to work with children in Dubuque, Bernard and Maquoketa.
Mentor Dubuque is looking for volunteers who want to mentor a youth in the community. Mentor-mentee pairs do things like go bowling, catch a movie, eat pizza together, hike, etc. You simply spend 4-5 hours each month with the child you are matched with. 11 girls and 22 boys are currently waiting for a mentor.
-Bernard area: We are looking for one man interested in mentoring.
-Maquoketa area: We are looking for four men interested in mentoring.
The youth have a diverse range of interests!

St. Mark Youth Enrichment is searching for before and after school volunteers. Their before and after school academic programs for students in grades K-5 offers students assistance with homework, helps in building character, promotes healthy exercise options, and provides student driven academic enrichment opportunities to help students become well-rounded. The academic enrichment opportunities may include but are not limited to the following areas: art, culture, science, technology, logic, movement, sports and outdoor activities.