LIVE UNITED Volunteer Awards
"We know that the work that United Way of the Midlands has done this past year could never have been possible without the help of our dedicated volunteers," said Mac Bennett, President and CEO of United Way of the Midlands. "Here in the Midlands, we are very lucky to have people who are willing to give their time, talents and efforts so generously and I am honored to present them with the LIVE UNITED awards."
The nominees for the United Way of the Midlands LIVE UNITED Volunteer Awards are volunteers (group or individual) that have dedicated themselves to service throughout the year and helped promote the spirit of volunteerism in the community through service to the United Way of the Midlands. Each of the winners contributed to the community through a separate volunteer project, but all were selected for the tremendous dedication and assistance in advancing United Way of the Midlands' mission of improving lives by making lasting changes.
For the 2007 tax year, United Way of the Midlands piloted a free tax preparation program. Natalie Poepping served as the lead volunteer and trainer for this program. Natalie provided tax law and IRS software training to volunteer income tax preparers on Saturdays and evenings. She supervised volunteers at two tax preparation sites, conducting quality reviews of returns, and transmitting and processing returns. Additionally, she prepared advanced level tax returns, and volunteered at the WIS TV 'Tax Tuesday' phone bank answering tax questions as a United Way of the Midlands volunteer. Natalie was 'on-call' anytime six days a week when the United Way of the Midlands tax sites were open to help answer questions and troubleshoot problems. She provided assistance with virtually all aspects of the free tax prep program and her participation was critical to the program's success.
Harry Prim serves on the United Way of the Midlands evaluation committee, which assures that programs are doing the right things in the right way for the right people and it also identifies opportunities to improve services. For at least four seasons, Harry has assessed programs and services supported by Community Impact dollars. He was one of two "triple crown" evaluation volunteers who participated in 100% of evaluation activities scheduled this year. Harry served on 1) an evaluation team reviewing report results, 2) an evaluation team that reviewed United Way of the Midlands' first Partners in Compassion applications, and 3) an evaluation committee that reviewed proposals and recommended funding for new United Way of the Midlands investments. For the record, all of this challenging work was completed in three months.
Antonio Boyd has served three terms on the Health and Recovery Council as an effective member. He also served as chair of the full council and chair of the Improving Quality of Life for seniors subcommittee. Antonio was instrumental in launching the We Care for Senior Coalition which promotes and educates seniors and the community about available resources and the SC Eye Care Initiative, a program in collaboration with the SC Optometric Association that offers low cost eye exams and prescription glasses for low income adults without insurance. As chair of the Health and Recovery Council, he also serves on the United Way of the Midlands board of directors. Needless to say, much of Antonio's time is spent attending numerous United Way of the Midlands meetings. He never says no to volunteer opportunities, which is a testament to his commitment to United Way of the Midlands
Dennis Coker is committed to healthcare for those in need, an advocate for volunteerism, and a leader among his peers. He served on the Health and Recovery Council since its creation in 2003 in addition to many other subcommittees and rarely misses any meetings. He is also the executive director of The Free Medical Clinic and in that role has a direct impact on providing medical services to some of our most vulnerable populations. Dennis has also been an ambassador among his peers in promoting United Way of the Midlands' community impact model. He serves as the president of the Certified Partner Agency Association where he effectively represents the concerns of his peers and those voices least heard in the community to United Way of the Midlands.
As a member of the communications committee and the campaign cabinet, Jerry Davis has spent countless hours leading a group of volunteers and staff in writing a multi-year marketing and communications plan, which now guides United Way of the Midlands in creating the direction for receiving greater community recognition. As a result United Way of the Midlands story has been articulated to the community through the media and corporate in ways and in a volume that is unparalleled throughout United Way of the Midlands' history. In the past year, United Way of the Midlands received thousands of ads, news stories, and web visits because of Jerry's groundwork and volunteer activities. He is extraordinary in that he did not just develop a communications plan, but he was instrumental in putting it in to action as well.
Coming from a family with strong roots in community involvement, Jim Reynolds is dedicated to continuing this tradition. Jim is currently a member of United Way of the Midlands Education, Job, and Life Skills Council where he actively participates on the Planning Committee, regularly attends council meetings, volunteers on the Campaign team for the Education Division and annually runs a United Way campaign in the company he operates in Columbia, Total Comfort. Advancing the work being done by the Education, Job, and Life Skills Council is central to all of his volunteer efforts. His work with local and statewide organizations including New Carolina's Education Task Force and the Education and Economic Development Act Coordinating Council truly contributes to making lives better for people who need it most.
United Way's 2007 Day of Caring could not have been such a success without the help of the dedicated employees from Colonial Life. They provided an unprecedented 280 Volunteers over a course of two days. They invested their time and energy with more than 25 different non-profit organizations, providing over 1,000 hours of total service over those two days. The total impact of volunteerism according to the Bureau of Labor equals to over 23,000 dollars of service provided in that short time. The Colonial Life team approached the event with great leadership and coordination. They assisted United Way of the Midlands by holding a special recognition event for their volunteers and provided their members extra information about each non-profit served. Additionally, overall volunteerism increased from Colonial Life throughout the year. They provided more than 30 volunteers during 2007 in longer-term opportunities. To date, this is the largest involvement of any volunteer group at one time during one event for United Way of the Midlands.
The Criteria for the LIVE UNITED Volunteer Awards are as follows:
- The nominee must have volunteered for United Way of the Midlands.
- The nominee may not be a winner in any other category.The nominee's volunteer hours must have been served in 2007.
Congratulations to all of our deserving LIVE UNITED volunteer award recipients. Give. Advocate. Volunteer. LIVE UNITED.
