Welcome, everybody, to Midday Magazine for this Tuesday, December 17th, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mailoff here, welcoming in the studio, our great friend,
CEO of your United Way of Southwood and Ames County, Terry Johns.
Good afternoon.
Good to have you here, Terry. Thanks so much for joining us today.
We want to send a big thank you to the United Way, all the good work they have done in the past
year here, looking forward to another big year with the United Way and our four-hour community.
Got a lot of great work that you guys are doing over there.
And so much of that really comes down to the community doing great work and impacting things
with the campaign. Yeah, and as the year is wrapping up, we're not quite wrapped up yet.
We've still got work to do. So we have about 88% of our campaign in. So what that means is
that leaves $70,000 that we're still trying to raise. So if you have been a donor in the past
and you just haven't gotten around to it yet, we appreciate you getting that into us.
Also, if you've maybe not been a donor, but you've been listening throughout the year,
you know, to this show, maybe when I'm out in the morning, that kind of thing.
You know, if you've been hearing things that appeal to you or that you like or that resonate
with you or you've identified, you know, maybe you see someone in the community that you think,
gosh, you know, maybe they're struggling, right? I mean, so there's a lot of different ways.
Maybe you've called 2-1-1. There's a lot of ways that United Way is impacting the community
and the way that that works is when the community donates to help make that happen.
So we are actively working to raise that last $70,000 between now and, you know,
typically we don't shut it down until the end of January because, you know, people give it
different times and someone to give in one year and someone to give in a different year.
So sometimes there's that impact. But then also sometimes we'll have people check in with us
and, you know, when their workplace did the campaign, maybe they were on vacation.
So they might have got missed. So there's a lot of following up that we're doing right now.
But again, don't let that deter you if you've never been a donor. There's no time like now.
And you can get more information about giving by visiting our website at www.swac.org.
You can give right on the website. One of the fun things we do with our campaign each year is,
of course, our sweepstakes. And we did give away all of our sweepstakes prizes last week.
And those were all sponsored. So I think that that's an important note, right? Those are not,
that's not coming out of that 70,000. We're still trying to raise that those were sponsored by
five local businesses. So by Aspirus Health, Gunterson, Mountain View, hospital and clinics,
we have Praveel Bank, next-home partners, and Williams Heating and Plumbing.
So all the five of those companies each gave us $1,000 to be able to
use for prizes. So we surprised all of those, all of those folks last week. So that was super fun.
We had Rachel from pitch early learning center. And so that was, that was cool. She's a library aid
over there in the schools. And it was fun because their school principal actually kind of hustled
up a little staff meeting in the morning, you know, just as a surprise. And it was really fun
because they were having ugly sweater day. And so that, so it was kind of funny because I walked in.
I'm like, oh, guys, we're here for ugly sweater day. And I'm like, wait, your sweaters are ugly,
you know, your teeth, and it was super fun. So we were there. Then we met with Carrie down at
Gunderson Mountain View Hospital. She's one of the employees there. And so that was,
that was great, way surprised. And for that, I had a little help from her supervisor who just called
her, but called her into a one-on-one meeting. And I think she was a little bit like,
so that was, so that was great. Then the next day we were at doorworks here in Wisconsin
Rapid. And we presented a prize to Mark over there. And that was great. But again, you know,
it is, it's just fun to surprise, surprise people and thank them for their giving. And then
the, the last in-person opportunity that we had was with Beth over at next-home partners. So
Beth is the, you know, I don't really know what her title is. I was going to say receptionist.
I, she's like the extraordinaire. She's kind of like Pam. Yes, yes, she does everything. She runs
the place. She doesn't get, she doesn't have the title and she doesn't get the credit, but she runs
the place. So that was, so that was awesome. She was just overwhelmingly surprised. That was great.
And then our fifth award recipient, he declined the gift. And he, he said, you know, I'd rather
that you just use it in the community. And so we kind of made a little trade off. And then that
bought him some anonymity. So, so we didn't go do the whole balloon's big check presentation,
because he just said, no, no, no, that's not necessary. I'd like to just, I'd like to just donate
it back. He said, I don't, I don't need it. I, you know, I'd rather that you just used it. So,
so that was really awesome too. So, yeah, it was a great, great week last week, but we are still,
you know, pounding the pavement trying to get to that last 70,000. I encourage people to sign up for
the newsletter with the United Way. I got to find out about these winners as they were happening
through the newsletter. Really enjoyed them. I was so happy for every one of these individuals,
but I have to admit that last one really hit me. It, I just think that that's one of the most
beautiful things ever, let alone this time of year when people do things anonymously. I,
a real shout out to that human being. Yeah, that was great. That's awesome. That's very cool.
And, and this, this, there's a reason for this. When we're talking about the campaign and we're
talking about all these great things that the United Way does, if we have time today, we'll touch
on some of the work that you guys are doing with Alice and some of that. But I, I like to talk to
people, especially one-on-one, because I don't like to put them on the spot too much with on air,
but why they give to the United Way. And I didn't really think much about this, but I thought,
well, yeah, I'm going to ask my mom, because the whole reason I understand and have such a passion
for the United Way is for my mother. And I never really found out why, where that started for her.
And she started talking about when she was young and her mother and her father,
working with the United Way and volunteering with them. And how that started for her,
this great passion of volunteering and a lot of that. And, and here she is with three kids
that she did this with and did. I think it's one of the better ways of not only impacting your
community, but if you're looking for an everyday feel good, you know, something that's a win every day,
you donate to the United Way, and that's something you feel year-round. You know, you see the
impact year-round of what of the work that you're doing and putting into the community. It goes a
lot farther than I think we realized. Yeah, and of course, we want to thank everyone who's been
part of our campaign. We do have an annual campaign. Thank you celebration. And that's for
anyone and everyone who was a donor to this campaign. So, if you, if you made a contribution,
whether you are a company, an individual, a household, business, we do invite you to join us.
We will be at Bullseye Golf Club on Wednesday, January 8th from 430 to 630. So, it'll start at 430.
We have, you know, some appetizers or herbs or whatever we want to call it, finger food,
just some snacks and then soda and water are included and then a cash bar. So, you know,
people are welcome to, you know, do whatever, whatever interests them. And we have that event
sponsored by a couple of our board members and then a couple of our board member businesses.
And so, so that's all sponsored. And then at about 5 o'clock, we start the presentation where we will
recognize businesses in our community cornerstone partners is what we call it. And we rolled this
out last year, which is a new way of just recognizing business donors. So, we, so we'll recognize
all the community cornerstone partners and what level that they are in their, in their giving.
And then we also call out and recognize loyal contributors to anyone who's been giving to
you out of way for more than 10 years. And then also our leadership givers. And so, this would
be households that are giving 500 or more per year to the campaign. And so, you know, we just
encourage people to come on out, hear about it, hear, hear how it's going and, and get involved.
One of the things I wanted to, excuse me, one of the things I wanted to touch on getting all
emotional. I went, I don't know. So, for the, just, you know, why asking people why they donate
and everything and sharing myself. I have cared and, you know, so always known the United
Way. And so, giving to the United Way seemed like just kind of tradition almost. Also, with knowing
the impact and working with you all these years and getting to know so much more of what this
takes to do this. But recently, and I actually say that for the past year, I've been having some
dental issues and everything. And it hits me the other day when you're in on the morning show with
me. I'm like, wait a minute, how have I never tapped this resource and asked the Terry a little
bit about this. And so, I bring it up with you. And one of the suggestions you had was calling
2-1-1. And just a huge light bulb goes off of my head. I'm like, why did I think of that?
I can't tell her this. She'll never let me live it down. And so, I do. I call 2-1-1. And my God,
like instant help. I'm not exaggerating, everybody. I had three options and I had to cut her off.
I'm like, that's good. That's all I need. I'll get back to you if I need more. She was so helpful.
And I can't tell you the relief I feel even right now talking about this. This has been for a year,
at least. I've been having this hanging over my head and everything. And I haven't known what to do.
I was looking, to be honest, I was looking for a payment plan, dental place. And it's a little
harder to find with my insurance and everything. Not for 2-1-1. They boom, they were able to help me out.
I cannot express how quick the help was, how detailed and how caring and empathetic it was.
If you are in need of things, call 2-1-1. And while you're doing that, think about how great that
resource is and how much we would miss it if it wasn't there. These are the reasons why we give things
like this. Absolutely. So yeah, I mean, the 2-1-1 program is something that is here in this community,
is completely United Way funded. It is a 24-hour statewide resource. So I think that that's
important to note. And the other thing that, you know, as we've evolved this program since 2007,
I believe is when it became a 2-1-1. It was a, you know, more like grassroots first call for
information before that might have been 2006. But, you know, since then, we've evolved, again,
into statewide coverage, but then also into having a statewide database and a statewide phone
overlay system. So, you know, what that really means is if something ticks up like the horrific
tragedy in Madison yesterday, 2-1-1 calls immediately ticked up. And so then the rest of us are able
to take all of their regular calls, if that makes sense. You know, so that local contact center
can be handling calls about the emergent need. And all the rest of us can take the call of,
I need dental care, where can I get it. And so, you know, so there's a sophistication to the system
that is really awesome, that we are able to help each other that way. And we just have a, I mean,
in the, in the system, we just call the disaster switch. So it's like, if somebody or like when
we had flooding care, we can, we can throw the disaster switch in the system, which means we're
only taking, you know, certain calls, everybody else needs to jump in and help us with the rest of our
calls. So I mean, so that's really great. But the other thing that it does is it streamlines
the programs as well. So we can, you know, we can rely on each other to take calls because we can
access each other's information and data. But it also helps with what that data and what that
taxonomy looks like in the system. So there's consistency. And it's a really great program. And
it's getting, you know, and it's, it's grabbing the attention of, of some big healthcare systems.
And not just, you know, 211 is in, I believe it's in 34 states. But, but, you know, when I just
think about us here in Wisconsin and the work that 211 Wisconsin does to leverage relationships,
you know, whether it be around advocacy, whether it be around policy, or just, just thinking about,
you know, just continuum of care or continuity of care and what that looks like. So there's been a
lot of work done at the state level, which trickles down into communities. But, but, you know,
I think it's pretty cool that we're a pretty small town. And we are one of eight context centers
that serve the state. So we serve 13 counties at our, at our 211 context center. And it, you know,
it's, it's really amazing actually to see. And, and there's also hardship that goes with it in our,
in our resource specialists, sometimes take some really hard calls. And they will take calls
sometimes that they have to do. We call it a warm line transfer where they stay on the line
with the person until they get them connected, maybe with 98 with the suicide hotline, maybe with
crisis intervention. So, so there's those calls. But then also, you know, I want to call attention
to it's not just always a crisis either. You know, there's those calls that are crisis. There's
the calls like you described where it's, it's an, it's been an ongoing, nagging, you know, kind of
kind of need that. And then there's also, you know, things like, gosh, I have this I could donate,
where could I donate it? I have time to give. I have, these are my areas of expertise, where could
I volunteer? You know, those kind, those kinds of things. So it's a wide variety and design to be
that way, right? Like it's not supposed to just be crisis calls. And it's also not supposed to just
be health related calls. It's, it's meant to be the health when I say health and, you know,
health care. But, but the overall health of the person is really the, you know, the point of
211 and why we continue to partner with Marshall area United Way to make sure that this program stays
in our community. To your point, Terry, in that that I want to overwork the system necessarily,
but I know the holidays, people aren't always certain. Is it garbage or recycling this week? Is
it, you know, little things? You know, there's, there's, there's, there's, you know, sometimes we know
that, but sometimes we don't. There's a lot of municipalities within our service area. Yeah,
yeah, you've got to keep that in mind. But just as an example that there, there's so much available
at 211. Oh, yeah. We are speaking with CEO of your United Way of Southwood and Ames counties,
Terry Johnson. Terry, power of the purse is right around the corner. It is. So yeah, we've got some
stuff coming up. Power of the purse will be March 11th this year. And we are currently seeking
sponsors for the event. We've, we've got a few of them that came in. Again, we always, you know,
start asking at the beginning of December. And then we have till the end of January to get people
on our, on our poster on that we, that we put out. But this is a great event. It is an event of our
women united. So their primary focus is early grade learning and literacy. So, you know, that's,
it's really a big deal. And in the primary program is Deli Parton's Imagination Library.
We did expand Imagination Library into the Adams County part of our service area. So Imagination
Library is currently available for all children who reside in Southwood County. So Rudolph,
Vesper, Wisconsin's Rapids Port Edwards, and Acusa zip codes. And then every zip code in Adams
County. So we encourage you. If you have a child that is birth to age five, we encourage you to
get signed up. This is a free book gifting program for, for children. And again, free comes in the
mail. So it's fun. It's like a present, you know, for your kids. And it also, I mean, it builds your
child's library. And if you think about it, you know, books are expensive, right? And this is a,
these are selected by reading interventionists, but they're good books. You know, I mean, you know,
it's not like, yeah, don't assume they're just all dry. But they're great books. It's a great
collection. And we really encourage people to get their, their child signed up. We have a really
great new grant opportunity for Imagination Library through Department of Children and Families
at the state where they are helping to cover half the cost of our Imagination Library program for
one year. And so, but I, you know, I think what's really important about that is larger, larger entities
of states, other states have been doing this for a while, are recognizing how important it is
that books be in the home. And so, you know, there's some, there's some states where, you know,
that's just an ongoing thing where, where cost is partially covered. And then, and then the other
half is covered by community programs. But, you know, hopefully, maybe we can, we can get there. But,
but that is really what we're raising money for when we do hold an event like Power of the Purse.
And the other thing is classroom grants. So, we provide classroom grants mostly for
third grade classrooms and under, but we have done some fourth and fifth. I would say elementary
and and pre pre elementary. And so, you know, we'll have teachers that come to us and say,
gosh, I have my, you know, my regular language arts curriculum, but I don't have enough sets of
below level readers or for the advanced readers, you know, like I, I, I just have the basic set of
books, right? And I have one set for those who are struggling. Well, if you have one set of books,
but you've got six kids that are struggling. So, so they'll come to us and say, you know, gosh,
could, you know, I'd like, like $1,000 to build up, you know, I could get, I could get seven more sets
if I had $1,000, blah, blah. So, they fill out the, they fill out the application. The Women
United Group reviews that and then we make a lot of classroom grants that way. That's beautiful.
Yeah. It's really fun. And these events are great. And we're going to talk a lot of
the bottom as we get closer and closer to them. There's two key things I did want to touch on one.
If there's anybody out there listening that would like to be a part of Women's United,
reaching out and being finding out how to do that. Yeah, for sure. You can just get a hold of me.
You can send me an email. It's Terry T-A-R-I at UW-S-W-A-C.org or you can give our office a call at 715-421-0390.
Now, if you are really truly curious, we have an event on January 29th, which is our Founders
event, which is a membership recruiting event. And it is literally just coming to learn about
what we do. And this will be happening also at Bullseye Golf Club. It's a 515 start time.
It's on a Wednesday. This one does require registration. So, you can just go to our website.
You can register there. You can call us. But we do need an RSVP number because we,
well, because we serve. And then they did a hotout. So it does require registration. And honestly,
because we like to know who's coming to so that we can be prepared, right? And be able to answer
questions. So that is another fun thing that Women's United does. And again, that's the last
Wednesday of January. You know, maybe it'll be, I don't know, cold and snowy and you've been in
the house for a few days. It's a good time to venture out. Spend some time with some ladies.
Come have a cocktail and some snack and some hors d'oeuvres and learn about Women United. So
certainly encourage any and all women in our community or the surrounding communities to
join us for one or both of those events. But if you are really interested in membership,
that's the best, you know, that's the best opportunity is to come to that so that you can come
and hear and learn. So last year, I think we had like, gosh, I don't even know, probably 25
non members attend, you know, and they just come to learn more. And then many of them also came
to power the person March. So that's, so that's really awesome. It's great to hear. And it's
impactful work that the people that are in our community are doing. And whether, you know,
to us men out there listening and stuff, you know, well, I want to be a part of this. I want to
help out this. You can, especially if you're a business, can I encourage you enough to attach
yourself to events like this to the United Way? It is marketing one on one. That especially,
we're starting to see this now more and more businesses are certain wise enough to this one.
Our community is known this for decades, but nationally, they're starting to see this a lot more.
But our community gets this. You heard Terry and I mentioned a couple of businesses in this
conversation. One of them being bullseye. They host a lot of events over there for the United
Way. Do wonderful work in our community and great people over there. They were not sponsoring in
this segment, but we've mentioned them a number of times. When you attach yourself to these events,
that's the kind of thing that happens. There is marketing and then there's free advertising that
just happens all the time with events like this. Be a, you know, you put your business with power
of the purse. You're not only showing the community that you support the community and put into it.
You're also getting an opportunity to be seen or heard by big people that you may not otherwise.
Yeah, another great opportunity that we have for that right now is every April. We do a calendar
raffle. And so we are currently seeking sponsors for that as well. You actually would sponsor the day.
So if you go on our website or if you give us a call, the lowest prize is $75 and the highest
is 200. So you can just pick which day, you know, maybe, I don't know, the 22nd is a lucky number
for you or whatever. So you can choose to sponsor that day and then your company logo actually is
printed on the calendar for that day. And we sell like 2,000, 2,500 of these. So imagine, I mean,
people are seeing your logo and you can see you can get your logo on there for 75 bucks.
And what you're donating to us is the prize. Like we're not, you know, what the amount you give
is actually what goes back out to the winner. We're making our money on selling the tickets.
And so, you know, but I think that that's a really important deal. There's no extra
tacked on for promoting your company. But those calendar raffles are a really good way
to get your business out there. Even if, you know, whether you're a large business or a small
business entrepreneur, you know, it is a really good, easy way and for the whole month. Because you
know if somebody bought one of those, they're either putting it on their refrigerator or keeping it
on their desk so that they know what the prize is the next day. So, you know, that that's a really,
it's a really fun way and a really honestly pretty inexpensive way to have your your company
and your logo promoted. So we do encourage those are just first come for serve as people sign up
for them. And we encourage you to take the opportunity if it suits you. Is it too early to reach out
now for something like that? No, and it's actually on the website already. So you can just,
um, we have some banners when you first pull up the website, you know, they kind of rotate
scroll. So it is on there. Um, but you also can just call us, you know, or I've had a few people
just email me and say, you know, hey, I'd like a, I don't care what, what the date is, but I'd like
to sponsor a $100 spot or whatever. And then we can get in touch with you. Get in touch with
our friends at the United Way, you reach Terry individually at Terry at uwac.org. Of course,
you can find out more at their website, uwac.org. Be sure to follow them on social media as well
and share their posts. You just never know who might see it otherwise. I always appreciate the time
and everything you and your team put into the community, Terry. Thanks a lot for hanging out with us.
Thank you. We will have more midday magazine coming up for you right here at 97 5 FM 13 20 AM WF HR.
We are locally grown radio.
