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Fall 2008 Campaign Update
As of early February, United Way of Southeast Mississippi has reached 82% of our $1.7 million campaign goal. There are many local and national campaigns that have not yet turned in their results. If you have not reported your results to United Way yet, please do so soon to help us reach our goal. Also, if you would like to run an employee campaign or donate personally, it's not too late! We need everyone to join us and LIVE UNITED. We'd also like to thank everyone who has contributed time and money this year. We're getting closer to the finish line! |
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Funds Distribution Committee gearing up
United Way's funds distribution committee, which is made up of over 50 individuals from across the community, will soon be hard at work visiting agencies and reviewing funding requests. The overall committee is divided into teams who will visit with agencies, listen to the funding requests and evaluate the performance of each agency. The committee is responsible for holding the agencies accountable for your United Way donations. The entire committee will meet next month to make their overall funding recommendations. United Way would like to thank these committee members for their dedication and a job well done! |
AGENCY NEWS
Your United Way investment at work
Girl Scouts
It's Girl Scout cookie time! Advance orders for Girl Scout cookies have ended, but it's not too late to get yours! Troops and groups will be selling cookies at booth sales from Feb. 20 through March 17. For more information call 601-582-1455. |
R³SM 
For two weeks in January R³SM hosted 11 AmeriCorps NCCC members as they served the Hattiesburg community by working on Katrina-damaged homes. These young people installed insulation, framed walls, hung sheetrock and installed doors and windows. In their spare time, which was mostly on the weekends, they volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club. The team left Jan. 25 on the way to New Orleans for their next project. |
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Domestic Abuse Family Shelter
In November and December, DAFS provided law enforcement training to employees with the Lamar County Sheriff's Office and Justice Court. Training consisted of the dynamics of domestic violence, investigation techniques, domestic violence laws, liability issues and survivors' stories.
DAFS is pleased to announce a partnership with Northcutt Legal Clinic in Gulfport on a grant awarded to the Gulf Coast Women's Center for Nonviolence. The partnership involves civil legal representation to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in DAFS's 11-county service area. The attorney for the clinic is Shirlee Baldwin, whose office is located in Hattiesburg. For more information, call 601-583-9790 for the clinic or 601-428-1707 for the DAFS office.
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DuBard School for Language Disorders
The 13th Annual DuBard Symposium: Dyslexia and Related Disorders will be held Feb. 5-6, 2009, at the Thad Cochran Center at USM. General and special educators, school administrators, speech-language pathologists, reading specialists, counselors and parents are invited to this special event to hear nationally recognized speakers.
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The DuBard School would like to encourage everyone to eat at Wintzell's Oyster House in Hattiesburg on the first Tuesday of each month. Every first Tuesday, beginning Feb. 3, Wintzell's will donate 10% of the sales to the DuBard School. Check out the menu at wintzellsoysterhouse.c
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Children's Center for Communication and Development
The Children's Center for Communication and Development at Southern Miss has expanded its team to include a behavioral specialist to work with students who have autism. Southern Miss alum Dr. Kim Bellipanni was hired this fall by CCCD with a grant received from the Austim Speaks organization to provide services to students from ages birth to 5 years of age who are affected by autism.The Autism Speaks grant also will fund outreach services, including four workshops at the Children's Center regarding autism and other communication disorders. |
| Pinebelt Association for Families |
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The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program received over 2,700 books worth $50,000, which were placed in Christmas bags for over 113 grandchildren, courtesy of the First Book Cheerios program. Pinebelt Association for Families was the only group in Mississippi to receive the Cheerios gift.
The holidays were also made a bit happier for grandparents raising grandchildren thanks to a donation from Mississippi Power employees. The grandparents were able to go on a special shopping trip to buy new underclothing items for their grandchildren. Over 113 grandchildren benefitted.
The McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Citizenship and Literacy program of the Pinebelt Association for Families provided personalized books for all Perry County first-graders. Pictured above are McGruff and Officer Steven Verret as they visit with the students and hand out the personalized books.
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| Win a Home for $100!
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The 7th Annual Home Sweet Home Raffle is in full swing! Someone will soon be the lucky winner of a new $285,000 home for only $100! Tickets are on sale now at several local banks, at the United Way office and online until Friday, Feb. 27. Tickets will also be on sale Feb. 27-March 1 at the Home and Products Show at the Lake Terrace Convention Center.
Open houses will be held at the home each weekend until March 1 on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Construction is almost complete, so come check it out!
For more information or to buy a ticket online, visit www.unitedwaysems.org. You can also purchase tickets by telephone by calling 601-545-7141.
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United Way would like to thank the Greater Hattiesburg Home Builders Association and Leaf River Cellulose for sponsoring the raffle. Without them, it would not be possible! | |
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AGENCY NEWS
Your United Way investment at work
ARC
Registration for the 2009 Summer Adventures program will take place Thursday, Feb. 5 in conjunction with the Buddy Valentine Party. Parents can register while children enjoy the party. Parents should be ready to pay their $25 membership fee and $25 registration fee to secure a spot for this summer.
Pictured above: ARC children enjoyed a fun Christmas party with their buddies.
ARC would like to congratulate Kathy Mixon, Cindy Pennington and Patty Upton for recently receiving their master's degrees in deaf/blind severe disabilities from Southern Miss. These ladies put in many hours of hard work while also working full-time jobs and working for ARC. Way to go! |
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Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse
The ladies of the Kappa Delta sorority will host their annual Shamrock 3-mile Fun Run on March 14 at 8 a.m. on the Longleaf Trace. The race will begin at the USM Gateway, and registration is $15. All proceeds from the Fun Run are donated to the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse through United Way. Everyone - runners, walkers, strollers, etc. - is encouraged to participate. Cash prizes will be awarded.
The Families First program of the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse has several classes in progress. Parenting classes are offered in Perry County at Beaumont Elementary School Parenting Resource Center from 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday. Classes in Forrest County are offered every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Families First Resource Center. Families First also offeres classes in fatherhood initiative, healthy marriage and relationships and abstinence education. For more information or to sign up for a class or book an abstinence education class for a group, contact Cheryl at 601-545-6680, ext. 227. |
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The Salvation Army
Several youth from The Salvation Army Youth Corps have been busy rehearsing for the upcoming Youth Council in Orange Beach, AL in March. Youth member Ronald Diaz and Captain Patrick Gesner play in the divisional band; and four young ladies - Selena Diaz, Jackie Stone, Rayneshia Roberts and Taneshia Roberts - are members of the divisional timbrelists. The Hattiesburg Corps is very proud of its young people!
Upcoming events for The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club include the First Southern Bank golf tournament to benefit the Columbia/Marion County Smart Center set tentatively for April 2 and the 20th annual Steak and Stake Dinner on April 23. For more information, call 601-544-3684. |
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| DREAM of Hattiesburg
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Make plans now to attend the 2nd Annual DREAM Celebrity Dessert Auction and Tasting Feb. 12 at Southern Oaks House and Gardens at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased by calling the DREAM office at 601-545-2102. Guest servers will be on hand; and Dr. Joe Paul, vice president for student affairs at Southern Miss, will be the celebrity host.
During October's Red Ribbon Week, DREAM teamed up with nurses from Wesley Medical Center to speak at several area schools. Over 2,500 students in seven schools were involved in the Reach Out Now Teach-In, an alcohol awareness and prevention program.
DREAM of Hattiesburg recently celebrated its 25th anniversary! Executive Director Bettie S. Ross was also honored for her 25 years of leadership. DREAM has been a United Way partner agency since it was formed in 1983. Congratulations on this milestone, DREAM!
Reading is Fundamental, a children's and familiy literacy program, provides DREAM an opportunity to encourage reading by giving children free books. Hundreds of students at Woodley Elementary School got to chose their very own book on Dec. 3. United Way dollars fund this program. |
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Boy Scouts Scoutreach Division
On January 19, Boy Scouts in the Scoutreach program attended the Martin Luther King Day commUNITY breakfast and then performed a day of service by cleaning up the Palmer's Crossing community. Members of the William Carey University baseball and basketball teams helped the Scouts pick up trash in the area.
Other events which took place in January included a nursing home visit, a trip to Washington, D.C. for the Venture Crew, a clean-up project of Edwards Street, a badge ceremony and a forestry day at Camp Tiak. Obviously, the Scoutreach Scouts are staying busy! Scoutreach is funded by United Way funds.
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| American Red Cross |
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At the American Red Cross Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Dec. 4, Courtney Robinson and Kenny Acres, III received Certificates of Recognition for Extraordinary Personal Action for helping save the life of Justin Acres when he began to drown in a neighbor's pool. Red Cross training can save a life! If you would like to know more about health and safety services offered by American Red Cross, the spring course training schedule is available. Check out www.redcross-scms.org for the current schedule.
The local Red Cross chapter responded to over 200 fires in 2008. The Adopt-A-Fire Family program had 91 families apply for assistance during the holidays. Area families, businesses and groups adopted these families and purchased many personal and household items for them.
March is "Red Cross Month," and this is a time to celebrate the spirit of Red Cross employees, volunteers and donors. Thanks for all you do, Red Cross! |
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The Carpenter's Helper
The Asbury Foundation of Hattiesburg recently awarded The Carpenter's Helper a grant of $175,000. The grant was prepared and submitted by United Way and will enable The Carpenter's Helper to put new roofs on up to 154 houses in Hattiesburg that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The one-year grant will allow The Carpenter's Helper to assist people in repairing their homes and rebuilding their lives over three years after this devastating storm. So far, 14 roofs have been repaired or replaced, and three more projects are underway. | |
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