Welcome everyone to Midday magazine for this December 27th, 2023.
Have your host James J. Mail off here.
And we are joined right now by Cali Johnson from our, our friends are for the ODC.
Cali, good to see you.
Yeah, good to see you too.
Thank you for being here.
We appreciate the time.
Uh, I, I should mention, uh, hello from my little brother.
Uh, I actually, I think I should, I was supposed to mention it.
How do I look tonight?
Yeah, I was supposed to mention it.
I think like two, uh, like two times ago you joined us or something.
So I'm getting it in at the last minute.
But that's all right.
We're still in the same year.
So yeah, we shouldn't wait till the next time.
So far we're in 2023, but one of the things we want to do today with, uh,
you, Cali and the ODC is talk a little bit about 20, 23, but really focus on
20, 24 and things we're really looking forward to and we're excited about.
As we are wrapping up the year, I would like to talk about the annual appeal and,
and get it start there if you don't mind.
Okay.
Yes, um, well, first I should start out with a huge thank you.
To our community, um, the clients, individuals who we support, um,
our staff of gosh, 200.
Wow.
It's a 200.
Wow, um, just for a wonderful year for another year of just a lot of growth
and excitement and adapting to changes and starting new programs, um,
it really just was another great year.
And so I do have to start out with that.
Thank you to everybody who's a part of ODC in one way or another.
Yeah.
Um, Cali, I don't mean to interrupt or anything, but you bring up something that
I hadn't really thought much about before.
We do so many of these year in reviews on the show here and a lot of that
conversation is wrapping up the year, but we don't get a chance to do this with
nonprofits very often and certainly keeping the lights on is important at the
ODC, but it's, you gauge it so differently, I imagine.
Uh, your accomplishments for the year, what went well that year, uh, when it
when I'm talking about the clients at the ODC or something like that, like
there's no small accomplishments.
There's no small, like it's got to be such a different perspective.
I would imagine then a business looking at it and looking at it.
Well, we finished in the black or we, you know, something like that.
That's interesting.
Yeah, it's, I mean, when we Julia always says, our president, when we have
the privilege to support over 1000 individuals who need it.
And as long as we're always able and willing to say yes, when it comes to
helping somebody else, like that's, that's a win for us.
Yeah, yeah, and we, we make it work no matter if we're in the black or not.
Right, right, right.
It's just really interesting to me.
I appreciate that note that that's interesting there.
And so we, we're looking at, uh, all the things we are thankful for 2023,
big, big thank you to this community, to the clients there, to your staff,
to your team, to the ODC in general.
Absolutely.
Yes.
And like I said, ODC supports over 1000 people annually, the big number, um, now across
13 counties in Wisconsin, um, you know, most people know us, uh, and it is still our
home base here in Rapids and Marshfield and Stevens Point, those areas, but we have expanded
to the Northwoods in Merrill, um, to the Wattoma, Washera area, um, and we're just excited
to continue to grow programs.
And we couldn't do it without people who support us.
So, so that's the thank you, but yes, we, it is annual appeal time, um, there's still
a few days left, obviously in 2023.
So hopefully listeners have already, um, received our annual appeal letter or seen, um,
some messages about it on our Facebook or social media channels, um, or maybe gotten
an email about the story, but this year we highlighted, um, uh, community member from
the Marshfield area, Sherry Meisner, who signed up as our first, um, better together friend
in the Marshfield area.
And um, better together is a program, an ODC program that matches adults with disabilities
to volunteers from the community to form an inclusive friendship based on similar interests.
So we had Sherry sign up.
Yes, I'm willing to be a better together friend.
We had Eva, a young lady, um, who we support looking for a new friendship.
And it turned out they had a lot of similar interests, um, sporting being one major thing,
the Green Bay Packers Friday night light, um, also baking and gardening, um, Sherry lives
on a farm, so picking corn on their farm.
So, um, it was just a really great story that we highlighted to show, um, what a strong
friendship can be built on similar interests.
And we just need more people like Sherry who are willing to, um, I don't even want to
say give up your time because these are things you're already doing.
You're in just building in an extra person.
If you're willing to give it a shot and see how it goes, um, that's what we're looking
for.
So we really wanted to highlight, yes, thank you for all the ways that you give to ODC
through checks and cash and credit card transactions and ACH withdrawals.
Like those are big deals and we really appreciate it.
But there's also other ways to give when it comes to your time and, um, making that connection
with somebody, it's just so meaningful and can go a really long way in their lives.
Kelly, you mentioned the annual appeal, uh, that, does that, uh, is the cutoff for that
is at the end date, uh, the end of the year, the last day of the year, yes.
But signing up to be a volunteer is something you don't have to do just this year.
I mean, you can think about, think about it and let us know in the new year as well.
Um, so we just really want to, everybody has their busyness and their day to day world.
We totally get and understand that.
We just want people to read the story and realize what an impact it can make in somebody's
life.
And an hour of your time a month, I mean, it can be, it doesn't have to be extreme.
Yeah.
Um, I, uh, I, I, I started every morning, uh, doing this job, getting, updating myself
on world news and looking at local news and state news and that.
And the news can be a little dragging sometimes.
So you need a palli cleanser, your newsletter or your Facebook page oftentimes is that for
me.
I'll go to the ODC newsletter.
I'll go to your Facebook page and immediately start smiling and immediately got my
palli cleanser and feel a lot better.
It's good for those reasons alone, let alone all the information and different, uh, volunteer
opportunities are different things that you can find out about the ODC through that newsletter.
Um, you guys do a great job with that.
Thank you.
Yeah.
We really do try to just tell our story and that in and itself are these not the stories
that happen on a day to day basis.
That's all we are our storytellers and it's often positive, good news.
And like you just said, I didn't even think about it really that way from the volunteer
perspective.
If you are the person agreeing to participate in this friendship, um, you'll, you'll get
something out of it.
Oh, yeah.
That's not often what volunteers are looking for, but there's, there's just no way you'll
walk away without feeling good.
It's very similar to me, uh, with meals on wheels.
There's a very similar thing to me, uh, a feeling, uh, to me about that where I, I did
meals on wheels for a couple of months and I don't feel like I worked one second.
I don't feel like I did any, any, like I, I oftentimes used to joke to the people I'd
pick up the meals from and everything.
Like I, I feel like it's always I should be paying you, uh, because it just, it feels
like one of those situations where I learned and gained so much from talking to those individuals
dropping those meals off.
Right.
Um, I know I've talked to enough people that have volunteered or work with the ODC before.
It's the same feeling.
You, you, you touched on something really cool there.
I think about the, the not giving of your time because you're sharing your time.
You're sharing these things with people.
Right.
Um, that's a, that's a key part of this, I think in a fun part of this too for, for individuals.
So if people want to find out more about the better together program, are there ways
for them to do that?
Yes.
So we, um, have a volunteer page on our website, odcinc.com, forward slash volunteer.
There's a simple form that you can fill out, we'll get back to you.
You can always call 4242712, I'm sorry, that 715, 4242712, um, or chat us on Facebook.
If that's easier for you, um, stop in, honestly, uh, either any of our locations and we'll,
we'll definitely make that connection and figure out the best fit for that person who's
looking to volunteer.
Um, they understand, they, they live in this community that they know, they have busy
lives as well, the individuals that work over at the odc.
So when it comes to volunteering and you're looking at your, oh, I don't know when I can
fit this in or, they're not going to be able to work on my schedule, they'll work with
you.
They'll figure it out.
And, you know, if they can, they are certainly going to work very hard to try to make
that happen.
Right.
Um, so please do reach out.
I think Sherry thought the same thing and who we highlighted in the letter and then
when she really thought about it, she's like, well, I'm already going.
She likes football.
I have a son who plays football Friday night.
So I'm already going to his game.
I'm just going to bring, you know, Eva long, um, to enjoy the experience with, um, same
with, you know, making lasagna or picking corn in the field or gardening, like there were
things that she's doing every day, um, already.
And so now she just has a friend to do it with, which makes it better.
We have so many, the guy that's so well said, uh, cause we have a lot of individuals in
this community that are, um, you know, in, in the upper, in the senior population or even
if they're not in a, in a lonely situation or, or by themselves, or maybe don't have
as much interacting with others that they would like or something.
You have that group of people and then you have the clientele at the ODC.
This is a perfect match.
This, this really works for our community.
The strengthens our community.
Oh, no.
Percent.
Yes.
That's a very cool program.
Yeah.
And that segues us into to it next year and looking at some of the fun things coming
up with our ODC.
Yes.
Um, so we are planning our calendar of events for 2024 and I can share some dates and
a little bit of information on your calendars out wrapping up a few details, but we're getting
started.
So this will be the third year that we are hosting a opportunity for FOR, hope, golf
benefit at San Valley Resort.
We, as many people know, we opened a mental health clinic in 2022 and outpatient clinic
right here at our Huntington Avenue, ODC location in Wisconsin Rapids.
This last year, 2023, we opened a satellite clinic in the Stevens Point, ODC and so we're
continuing to raise awareness for mental health needs in our communities and also raising
money.
So we are looking for sponsors and participants for Friday, May 31st of 2024 to join us
at San Valley, play some golf, have a good time, enjoy some delicious food and support
our clinics, our opportunity for hope clinics.
There's one of the biggest things to happen in this area in the last five to 10 years
of San Valley and what is going on with that situation in Rome and how much that is
blown that area up and how much that has benefited local communities and cities nearby.
We shout out them and appreciate them because part of the other reason I think they have
been successful is things like this.
San Valley got right away.
We want to incorporate, we want to work with the community, we want to sponsor things,
we want to be a part of things, we want to be a event, a go to place for nonprofits.
I see them all the time doing things like this and that's very noteworthy to me.
Great.
So put that out there right away.
Yes, thank you to them.
They have been a great partner to work with over the years and they get us, they get our
mission, they support it and again, can't say enough good things about San Valley.
Also in that stretch of time, we've seen a rise in talking about mental health and paying
attention to that and caring about that and I think as a society, I don't get to say
this very often.
I'm really proud of our society in this on this front where, especially in the states
here, we have been on the forefront of talking about mental health and being and opening
up about it and being sharing it.
But now the real work needs to get done where, okay, we've talked about it as a kind of,
kind of like it as an outsider thing, now we've got to start looking at ourselves and
start dealing with our own mental health and everything and helping each other with that.
That's where these mental health clinics have come in so key in the last year or so having
them, whether it's the one here in town and rapids, the satellite location and point, all
are important, all are key.
It's benefits, it benefits everybody with this and it's only going to be more and more
as we go forward here, mental health, the conversation's not going away.
So having an event like this and your business being a part of it, I just touched on a number
of things that are key to selling your business, to promoting your business, to good PR.
There is no price tag you can put on good PR.
We talk about this a lot.
There's a lot of businesses in town that you know their name because they attach to so
many nonprofit events.
They put back into this community.
How many, it's so important to our individual, to our community members, to support businesses
like that.
So that right there is a key and a great way to reach out to the ODC and be a part of
this great event.
There's also so many other great benefits of that.
We encourage people to do that.
The event itself is going to be a lot of fun, we're looking forward to that as well.
Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun, but you're right, there is a deeper meaning behind
it.
So if mental health is a cause that you care about that maybe has touched your family,
friends, I mean, everybody knows somebody who has needed mental health services and we're
just happy to be that provider.
Like you said, we have our clinic in town, we do go into the community, we have our satellite
clinic and Steven's point.
We also this last year launched three school satellite sites in Pitzville, Nacusa, and
Junction City.
So we're trying to go where it's most convenient for those who need those supports and maybe
the hours don't work or they can't get transportation to the clinic, we're coming to those people.
In order to provide those services, we do need to do fundraisers and so this is just one
way to support.
So please save that date.
Friday, May 31st, get in touch with us ahead of time.
We'll be launching the event after the new year on our Facebook page, but you can always
email me directly, see Johnson at odcinc.com or call 715-818-6468 and I'd be happy to talk
with the local businesses about this event specifically.
We'll get that information out there again before we wrap up today and as a dad, I love
a good play on words.
So the four hope golf benefits, it's really well played.
I like that.
So good.
Other good event coming, another big event or another big thing coming up in June as well.
Yep, so last year we did our first ever cash calendar raffle in the month of June.
We sold tickets after the new year and we drew winners every Monday through Friday in
the month of June.
And they were prizes, they were cash prizes anywhere from 50 to $500 depending on the
day.
And so those squares were sponsored by local businesses.
So we are bringing that back this year and we'll be selling tickets in the first quarter
of 2024.
I believe they were one for 10 or three for 20.
And that was a great way to engage our employees.
They got really pumped about selling tickets, but also community members.
I couldn't believe how many stopped in and we're just buying them or taking them and selling
them to their friends and family.
And what was really neat was we live streamed and we'll do it again this year on our Facebook
page, all of the individual, not all, but a lot of the individuals who we support were
involved in the drawing of the winners.
That was a lot of fun.
And so we felt like people got a little peek behind the curtains if you will or just a
little glimpse into what daily life at ODC is like.
And it was so fun for the clients to get involved and draw a winner and get so excited.
And it was fun for everybody because it doesn't love to win money.
But yeah, we'll be bringing that back.
So please stay tuned about how you can buy tickets to possibly win.
You can help sell tickets.
Just great ways.
Or if you're a business who wants to sponsor a square anywhere from 50 to $500, please
get in touch in another great way to get your name on something that has a lot of eyes
and goes a long way.
Our business owners out there, they live in this community, they live in this area, they
know they know how big raffles are.
They know how big calendars are.
Our community just loves these kind of things.
Getting your name on there, you know what's going to get seen by a lot of people.
And they're going to see not only that your business and think about it, they're going
to see your business attached to the ODC and you see you supporting your community.
Right.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
One of our favorite events, I know personally one of my favorite events is coming up as
well, not coming up, but it's going to be in August.
Yeah.
So for last few years, we've done the run, walk and roll started in 2020, you know, the
COVID year where we weren't really sure if we could have an in-person event and but we
still wanted to support ODC, try to get together if we could, if it was outdoors or we could
get social distance or if people could choose to just kind of run, walk or roll on their
own with their own close group of family or friends.
So that's been successful year after year and we've grown in the event and this year we're
going all out to grow it even bigger and we're we're putting a little creative twist on
it, renaming it to run, walk, rock and roll kind of like it's hard to say, but like run,
walk, rock and roll.
Oh, I like it.
Yeah.
So another great business to partner with rooted in red, they have graciously offered up
a Saturday, August 24th at their cranberry farm at rooted in red for us to gather, we're
going to do the run, walk to roll out there, we're going to have wagon rides and so if you
want to participate in the exercise portion of it, you'll meet there earlier in the afternoon,
we'll all run, walk and roll together and then it'll be followed up with rocking and rolling
and Pam Ross and her band, one of her bands, the Antonets is going to be opening the show
and performing for a couple of hours and then southbound, who everybody loves, is going
to be closing our headliner for the event and we'll have raffles, we'll have food trucks,
we'll have just so much fun, the cocktail bar will be open, we'll have, we're hoping
to have like a live kind of auction too.
So some of the details are still being worked out, but please save the day for Saturday,
August 24th for our run, walk, rock and roll.
I love that name, I love that name, I love this event, great to have Pam, the part of the event
is certainly and her ties to the ODC of course and the love the internet, God I love that band,
we love southbound, it's fantastic bands, you know in a shout out to these bands and these
local artists too, we have so many of them that you constantly see them a part of nonprofit events,
they get it to support them as well, as much as we talk about this morning, these local businesses,
buying local supporting local also includes the arts, please support them as well.
Yeah, yeah, we're really looking forward to it, it's going to be a good time.
The idea for the event is fascinating to me too, especially what I appreciate about the ODC
and we have some other business profits like this, but I don't know many that are great at this
as you guys are where you have an event, it's doing very well and I think most people would expect,
just keep doing what you're doing, but you guys are always looking at ways to
to improve something or to make something even greater, even more fun, or include even more
members of the community. I really admire that, especially when we think of the message of the ODC,
of being a part of the community reaching out to the community and the community reaching out
to you and your clientele, it's a win-win kind of thing there, that's a really fun of that.
Yeah, we wanted to continue to do it like you said, but kind of reinvented, just to make it a
little bit new, and we of course immediately thought of rooted in red, they do such a nice job
with their events there, and so what a great venue, and you can still participate if you can't
make the event, just like we've allowed in the past, it's super flexible, you get a t-shirt made,
of course, produced right at ODC, at our ink splash business, and businesses sponsor to get
their names on the back of the t-shirts, and then the client, if you're a business that sponsors and
you don't even want your t-shirts, you can donate them back, and the individuals who we support
wear them, they love getting a t-shirt every year, so fun. But this is just a new way that we can
all gather in one location, because like I said earlier, we have, we're across 13 counties,
we're hoping all the individuals who we support can gather at rooted in red, and who doesn't love
music, and just celebrate all the messages that we're trying to put out there, which is inclusivity,
and just how you can make a difference when you're all better together.
And that's just a glimpse of 2024 and the excitement and fun that we're going to have with
the ODC and our community coming up in the next new year. That's a lot of great stuff there,
Callie. If people have followed questions, they want to know more about some of the things we've
talked about, how can they reach you? Call me directly, 715-818-6468, or my emails,
see Johnson at odcinc.com, go to our website, which is odcinc.com, or chat us on Facebook.
And then the two ways to give back were odcinc.com-bord-volunteer, or odcinc.com-bord-slash-donate.
Nicely done. All of this off the top of her head too, everybody.
Like an incredible work, Callie. Nice job. We wish a good new year's to you and yours,
to everybody at the odc. Please let them know how much we appreciate him and enjoy your new year,
and we're looking forward to hanging out again next month. Yeah, thank you so much for having us,
and happy new year, everybody. Happy new year. We'll get out here on that. We'll have more
mid-day magazine for you tomorrow right here at 975 FM 1320 AM, WFHR. We are locally grown radio.
