United Way Suwannee Valley

For the 15th year First Federal Bank of Florida was the title sponsor for the United Way of Suwannee Valley Golf Tournament which was held on Friday, June 20, at Suwannee Country Club. This year’s tournament raised more than $9,300 in support of the local United Way’s efforts to advance the common good through its community impact initiatives and support of 23 partner agencies providing services in the Suwannee Valley.

For the 10th year Roy Guercio, owner of Dairy Queen of Live Oak, donated his time plus cheeseburgers, hamburgers, chili dogs, hot dogs and ice cream sandwiches for lunch for the golfers and tournament volunteers.

Along with First Federal, the title sponsor, there were 25 hole sponsors this year which included All Springs Veterinary Clinic, Anderson Columbia, Comcast Cable, CCA-Corrections Corp of America, Daniel Crapps Agency, Eddie Accardi Chevrolet, Helvenston Insurance, Hopkins Motor Company, W. B. Howland Co., Interstate Cycles, Live Oak Pest Control, Lube Specialists, McCrimons Office Systems, Parks Johnson Insurance, PCS Phosphate, Ronsonet Buick-GMC, Rountree Moore, S&S Food Stores, Poole Realty, Prevatt Law Firm, Shands Live Oak, SiTEL, John Kasak State Farm Insurance, Wal-Mart Lake City, and Wes Haney Chevrolet. Winn Dixie of Lake City sponsored the water, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Works Local 1205 sponsored the soda and ice. Texas Road House donated peanuts. Jim’s Produce donated fruit, and KC’s Produce donated vegetables to top the burgers.

The first place team, with a score of 58, included Lyn Fletcher, Terry Mixon, Bill Bozeman and Tommy Chambers. In second place, with a score of 60, were Matt Scott, Bill Owen, Mike Smith and Lance McCray. Taking third place with a score of 60 were Sam Roberson, Shack Roberson, Jerry Taylor and Henry Roberson.

Closet to the pin winner on hole number five was Henry Roberson, and closest to the pin winner on hole number eight was Daniel Bennett. Each won a $50 gift certificate.

The raffle donors and winners were the Ritz Carlton, Amelia Island, which donated a one-night stay won by Terry Mixon, a massage from Steele Chiropractic won by Cathy Moses, a gift certificate to the Dixie Grill won by Kevin Greene and a 2007 Jacksonville Jaguars Yearbook won by Matt Scott. Two Wilson Staff drivers were also among the raffle prizes. These were won by Cathy Moses and Mike Koon.

Special thanks goes to the Suwannee Country Club, to the golfers who participated and to the dedicated volunteers who come out each year in support of this tournament, especially Suwannee County Police Athletic League Director Lt. Gary Edwards and Recreational Aid Lonnie Ford for their assistance and the Boys and Girls Club of North Central Florida, Suwannee County Branch for allowing club member Ariana, to help out this year. The golf committee of Jeff Hackney, Myron Holmes, Jimmy Jones, Susan Lance, Nina Herringer and Rita Dopp thank everyone for another successful tournament; we could not do it without our volunteers!

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For Immediate Release: May 15, 2008

Contact: Rita Dopp, United Way of Suwannee Valley, 752-5604

THANK YOU !!!

Columbia County for setting a new record of 20,708 pounds of food

collected by the Postal Carriers’ Food Drive

The National Association of Letter Carriers and local rural letter carriers held their annual national “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive on Saturday, May 10, and collected a record setting 20,708 pounds of non-perishable food from Columbia County postal customers.

For the fourth year United Way volunteers Bob Fowler and Stanley Wallace coordinated the dissemination of food to local agencies. Volunteers Susan and Tracy Palmer and cadets from the Civil Air Patrol worked the loading dock and proved to be an invaluable asset in unloading, weighing and reloading the food brought in by the postal carriers. Post office employees working with United Way of Suwannee Valley to coordinate the event were John Yulee, NALC Member, Lake City Post Office; Steve Lee, Lake City Postmaster; and Vickie Smith, Fort White Postmaster.

The food drive comes at a crucial time of year for food needs in our community.

It comes at a time of year when the holiday donations are depleted, yet the summer is coming, and the many children who depend on the school lunch program are out of school for the summer, increasing the demands on the agencies’ food source needs.

Food banks and food pantries have reported a huge increase in the requests for food this year with general costs of food and fuel increasing. “The elderly, those on a fixed income, low- and even medium-income residents are struggling with the costs of everyday living. It is heartwarming to see this record setting amount of food being donated, given the current economic climate,” said United Way Executive Director Rita Dopp.

Agencies participating this year in Columbia County were Another Way, Christian Service Center, Catholic Charities Bureau, Food Bank of Suwannee Valley and Suwannee Valley Rescue Mission. These agencies make the food available to residents in need. Each of these agencies welcomes donations of food year round.

United Way of Suwannee Valley works to advance the common good as a community impact and fundraising organization which, utilizing volunteers on all levels, identifies unmet community needs and seeks to alleviate those needs through United Way of Suwannee Valley community impact initiatives and the funding of affiliated health and human service agencies.

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For Immediate Release: May 10, 2008

Contact: Rita Dopp, United Way of Suwannee Valley, 386-752-5604, or Shayne Morgan, Columbia County Emergency Management/Chair, Suwannee Valley Long Term Recovery Organization, 386-752-8787

United Way of Suwannee Valley Long Term Recovery Committee

Awarded Florida Disaster Recovery Fund Grant

The Florida Disaster Recovery Fund will make a $25,000 grant to the Suwannee Valley Long-Term Recovery Committee/United Way of Suwannee Valley, Inc. to help support the organization in assisting survivors of the March 7 tornado in the Lake City area. State Representative Debby Boyd will present the funds in a check presentation ceremony at Annie Mattox Park North in the affected community. The grant will be used to help defray the administrative costs of providing case management for long-term recovery through the Suwannee Valley Long Term Recovery Committee.

The Suwannee Valley Long Term Recovery Committee was convened by United Way of Suwannee Valley in response to the need to provide recovery assistance in the tri-county community following the 2004 hurricanes. The committee remained intact and reconvened expediently after the March 7 tornado.

The Suwannee Valley Long Term Recovery Committee includes representatives from community agencies, emergency management, civic organizations and the faith community. Shayne Morgan, Columbia County emergency management specialist, serves as chair. The local United Way continues to serve as staff to the committee, which is moving toward separate incorporation while remaining administratively housed in the United Way.

“These funds allowed our small United Way to hire a long-term recovery manager to direct the long-term recovery process,” explained Morgan. “Our United Way has a very limited staff whose members manage to support the long-term recovery process while performing their other responsibilities until such time as the agency receives grant funds to staff a dedicated position for the longer term.” In anticipation of the receipt of grant funds for a dedicated long-term recovery position, Parr Claytor was identified as the candidate to fill this position.

“Parr promptly acquainted himself with the protocols in place to date,” said Rita Dopp, executive director of United Way of Suwannee Valley. “Our United Way staff members are caring and committed. They have been extremely gracious in assisting the tornado survivors. However, it would be very difficult to continue this effort on a long-term basis without the support of staff members dedicated to the long-term recovery process.”

A significant amount of outreach efforts has been conducted in an attempt to ensure all impacted households contacted the United Way office to identify available assistance. Referrals were completed for all households which qualified for disaster SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) funds, and applications were completed for those households which instead qualified for the City of Lake City Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Referrals are made to Columbia County Senior Services for all households with members age 60 and over. Columbia County Senior Services provides the long-term recovery case management for these households. “These referrals also provide the opportunity for our agency to identify any additional needs with which our agency can provide assistance,” advised Debby Freeman, executive director of Columbia County Senior Services. The United Way long-term recovery staff, together with trained volunteer long-term recovery case managers, will provide the case management for those households without senior citizens.

The City of Lake City Growth Management Department is processing the CDBG applications, and the Suwannee River Economic Council is handling the SHIP applications. Clients who can not be assisted with the necessary repairs to their homes through one of these two funding sources will be referred back to the United Way as a candidate for Suwannee Valley Long Term Recovery Committee assistance.

“It is only through the partnership of the community agencies through the Suwannee Valley Long Term Recovery Committee and the patchwork of the various funding streams that the pieces of the recovery puzzle are put together,” advised Joe Flanagan, president of the United Way of Suwannee Valley Board of Directors. “On behalf of the United Way’s board of directors, we are extremely relieved to receive a grant from the Florida Disaster Recovery Fund to provide dedicated staff to assist the tornado survivors.”

City Councilman Eugene Jefferson echoed his support of the long-term recovery effort. “As a member of the United Way of Suwannee Valley Board of Directors as well as a resident and property owner in the affected community, I am delighted to hear the Florida Disaster Recovery Fund is providing for the staffing necessary to help those households which require some outside assistance to achieve recovery.”

“Our local United Way has established a history of securing the funds necessary to assist disaster survivors,” stated local attorney Tom Brown, who chairs the United Way’s Planning Committee, which is responsible for providing oversight of the United Way’s community impact initiatives, including the long-term recovery effort. “Our United Way staffed two positions following the 2004 hurricanes and secured from a number of grants the necessary funds to bridge the unmet needs after survivors’ FEMA receipts were exhausted. The 2006 Christmas Day tornado resulted in fewer cases but the same grant and case management process. Our prior experiences have equipped our local United Way and Long Term Recovery Committee to initiate long-term recovery assistance expediently.”

United Way of Suwannee Valley advances the common good as a community impact and fundraising organization which, utilizing volunteers on all levels, identifies unmet community needs and seeks to alleviate those needs through United Way of Suwannee Valley initiatives and the funding of 24 affiliated health and human service agencies.

The Florida Disaster Recovery Fund, formerly the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund, was initiated during the 2004 hurricane season to assist with unmet/long-term recovery needs of survivors. The Fund is fueled entirely by private sector donations, with grants made to long-term recovery organizations. The Fund is managed by the nonprofit Volunteer Florida Foundation. For more information, please visit www.FLADisasterFund.org.

For Immediate Release: April 14, 2008

Contact: Jennifer Lee, United Way of Suwannee Valley Homeless Coordinator, or Rita Dopp, United Way of Suwannee Valley Executive Director, 386-752-5604

United Way of Suwannee Valley Awarded HUD Grant

United Way of Suwannee Valley received notification from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development the homeless assistance application submitted by the local United Way in the 2007 McKinney-Vento homeless assistance competition was selected for funding. The application submitted by United Way of Suwannee Valley, as the lead agency for the Homeless Services Network of Suwannee Valley, garnered renewal funding for two projects initiated through the local United Way’s original 2004 HUD McKinney-Vento homeless assistance application. The two projects receiving renewal funding include United Way of Suwannee Valley’s implementation of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and Volunteers of America of Florida’s scattered-site supported housing units.

United Way of Suwannee Valley received a one-year renewal of $32,146 for HMIS implementation. “This web-based system allows homeless service providers who are participants in the homeless coalition to enter client data to provide for community coordinated case management,” explained Jennifer Lee, United Way of Suwannee Valley homeless coordinator. “If a client receives services at one agency, other agencies serving the same client can be aware of the various services the client is receiving and provide reinforcement of the case plan and additional services supplementing those provided by other agencies.”

HUD requires local homeless coalitions to implement a homeless information management system for homeless service providers to receive grant funds. “Recognizing the very small amount of funds available to our four-county homeless coalition catchment area, when we implemented the system locally, our United Way coordinated with United Way of Northeast Florida to participate in the Northeast Florida Information Network HMIS system,” explained Rita Dopp, executive director of United Way of Suwannee Valley. United Way sought to meet the HUD requirements in the most cost efficient manner possible. Minimizing the costs of the HMIS implementation makes available the remaining HUD funds for direct client services. Homeless Coordinator Jennifer Lee manages the local HMIS system in coordination with United Way of Northeast Florida. Participating in the neighboring United Way’s system results in a 10-county contiguous area on one system and provides economies of scale.

Volunteers of America of Florida received a one-year renewal of $56,246 for scattered-site supported housing for chronically homeless veterans. The grant provides for five units.

“Our United Way focuses on unmet community needs and opportunities to address these needs,” said Tom Brown, chair of the local United Way’s Planning Committee, which provides oversight to the United Way’s community impact initiatives including the homeless coalition. “While the annual community fundraising campaign provides for support of local health and human service agencies, the community impact initiatives of our United Way result in significant additional funds through the receipt of grants to address our community’s most pressing needs.”

Joe Flanagan, president of the United Way of Suwannee Valley Board of Directors, acknowledged our local United Way is unique in its pursuit of grant resources. “United Way of Suwannee Valley serves a rural community. Our rural community is a caring community. However, resources are limited. Our United Way expands our resources by seeking grant funds in support of targeted community impact areas. While it may not be uncommon for a local United Way to seek grant funds, the amount of grant funds leveraged by our United Way in comparison to its community fundraising campaign is unique ? and something our board of directors is very proud of.”

United Way of Suwannee Valley is a community impact and fundraising organization which, utilizing volunteers on all levels, identifies unmet community needs and seeks to alleviate those needs through United Way of Suwannee Valley initiatives and the funding of 24 affiliated health and human service agencies.

United Way of Suwannee Valley serves as the lead agency for the Homeless Services Network of Suwannee Valley, which serves the counties of Columbia, Suwannee, Lafayette and Hamilton. The network includes agencies and individuals interested in the services available to those who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

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