My involvement with the United Way began with my first employment in 1986. The United Way of London came into our office in the autumn months to speak about their campaig
n and how employees pledging a payroll donation can help throughout the year. The advisor communicated about how the United Way not only meets the immediate needs of individuals but also how they make a difference in people lives and the agencies that they support. I grew up in poverty and I know how it feels to go hungry. It was then and there that I decided they were going to have my continued support. I wanted to make sure that no child ever had to go hungry, the way that I had. It is thirty years later and I still advocate for and support the United Way.
This spring when I was researching where I would like to do my placement as a Community Worker Outreach and Development student, I saw the opportunity to become Student Engagement Coordinator for Sheridan’s United Way Campaign. When the position was offered to me, I was excited to become involved with getting students immersed with the communities around them. I had an aspiration to engage the college students to become aware of their surroundings, both in Sheridan College and beyond. I work one a day week at Sheridan College and one day a week at United Way of Oakville.
It has been an incredible experience watching how devoted everyone has been helping to get the students involved in the United Way campaign.
The eagerness of the student unions, along with the unique strengths of the staff at United Way Oakville and United Way Region of Peel gives the air a tangible, electric quality as we all work towards a common goal.
One of the exciting ideas that I have come up with as I have worked with the campaign is an idea for the President’s Creative Challenge that involves a United Way agency, Acclaim Health, and hopefully a couple of different faculties within the college. This idea will engage textile and trades students creating items of need for the agency. Melissa, the Director of Development and Marketing with Acclaim Health has met with me and discussed the agency’s requirements. I am currently setting up meetings with the different faculties to progress to the next stage.
The United Way committee has come up with new and innovative ways to get the students engaged. We lovingly refer to this as our building year. We have had numerous thoughts and input in exciting ways to engage the students and bring awareness to what the United Way achieves and the agencies that they support. It is difficult to have numerous ideas and not enough time to implement them all. Our hope is to build a timeline on the events of the 2016 campaign so that next year we can introduce and develop more exciting events involving students.