Hello all, welcome to WFHR's Rafford Support for this May 20th, 2025.
Have your host, James J. Mailoff here, and we're welcoming into the studio.
Our great friend, CEO of your United Way of Southwood and Ames County, Terry John.
Hello.
Hey, good to have you with us, Terry.
How you doing?
Great to be here.
I'm doing very well.
Good, good.
Appreciate you.
Appreciate the time.
And of course, everything you and your team over there at the United Way are doing
for our community.
We're going to get into some really fun, cool events that you guys have going on.
If you want to start with stuff to desk, you want to start there, registration, some
of that.
Absolutely.
So registration is open for school supplies for next school year.
People don't really like hearing that before the school year ends.
But you know, this is the reality we live in.
Before summer gets crazy, but registration is open.
So if you have a need for school supplies for your student, we say as a general rule,
if you qualify for free and reduce lunch, you qualify for free school supplies, but we
also understand sometimes there's some, you know, an emergency happens, a hardship happens.
So there is a form that you do need to fill out to get your students registered.
We need to know what grade they're going to be in, what school they're going to be at.
This is serving all of Southwood County schools.
So this would be if your child goes or will next school year go to Wisconsin Rapids,
Port Edwards, Nicosah, Immanuel, the Assumption Catholic School System, or, you know, there
may be other needs that people have, but this is for design for Southwood County residents.
And we do require a registration form.
So you can find that form by visiting UWswac.org and it is literally the first image that pops
up on the website, stuff the desk, and then we need information about your student so that
we can make sure that they, you know, get the supplies that are appropriate to their grade
and location.
That registration is open until August 1st, you know, sometimes, you know, I guess I was
being a little cheeky before about, you know, schools not even out yet and we're going
into talking about the next school year.
But sometimes the chaos of summer just gets in the way, right?
So if you, you know, if you know, you're going to have this need and you want to just
get it taken care of, you know, by all means do that and you can register multiple students.
And with that, you can also pick a time slot and get that taken care of so you know that
you got the time slot that's going to fit best for your schedule.
Correct.
As part of registration, you tell us when you'll be, you know, completing your pickup.
We do the, we do the drive through distribution on a Friday afternoon and then Saturday morning.
So you right now there is openings in all of the time slots, but they are first come first
served.
So another incentive, I guess, to register sooner.
If you don't have a computer, it is mobile friendly.
I will, I will point that out.
But if you just don't have access to a device, you can call 211 between the hours of eight
and five Monday through Friday and one of our local resource specialists can just walk
through the form.
So fill it out basically while you're, while you're giving them the information.
So I don't want you to think if you, you know, don't have a computer at your fingertips
that, that you don't have the ability to sign up.
But everyone does have to get logged in through this online system.
We've been doing this for so long.
I had almost forgotten this, but it was odd.
I thought of it this morning when I knew you were coming in.
One of the things that we used to talk about a lot about with this subject and I, I used
to hear from listeners quite a bit that I haven't heard in a long time is, well, how do
I know if I qualify?
How do I know if I need supplies?
I know that it might seem like a very basic question to some out there.
Well, I mean, if you need, if you don't have all the supplies you need, certainly you
need supplies, your, your, your child does.
But so many of us, especially Midwesterners, we're not great about asking for a hand up
or, or, or even looking at our own lives and thinking, well, they, I don't, I'm okay.
I'll make it all right.
I'll just rub some dirt on it.
I'll be fine.
That's RM.
Oh, that's what we do around here.
And I, I love us for that.
I love our, our, our brethren and sisters for that.
At the same time, this is why this exists is for the people that are in need.
And if you even think you are, I encourage you to reach out to United Way, or even by
filling out the, the registration in that you might figure out, oh, I do need assistance
or oh, I don't.
But I, I appreciate, I don't know.
You know this world better than I do, Terry.
But when, when it comes to something like this, I think a lot of people in society think
they'll, I'll just, everybody's trying to get these supplies or something.
No.
It's the opposite in many ways where we're having to remind people and encourage people,
hey, this is something you could, this is a service we're here for you.
And we want to help out for sure.
And that's why I think we use just kind of the general, the loose, the loose, you know,
guideline of free and reduced lunch, but understand that there are some other, you know, hardships
that that could present themselves that you, you know, someone didn't expect.
Terry, my kids are old.
No, no, they're, they're early 20s and everything, but they, they're not in school anymore, of
course and everything.
But I, here's, I know this is going on, we get excited about this and I want to help.
I want to be a part of things and I still can.
Yeah, for sure.
So we are collecting school supplies to meet the need of the children who, who register
for stuff to desk.
So the stuff that bus event happens on Thursday, August 7th at lunch by the river.
So United Way is the sponsor of lunch by the river that day.
We ask everyone to bring all their school supplies to, to us that day, they are sorted
and inventory, and so that is a really key date.
We are currently in the process of asking local businesses to be collection sites or, you
know, maybe it's an organization, we, we typically hear from churches, for profit businesses,
other nonprofits, you know, that, that yes, we'll collect.
Some people do just an internal collection from their employees.
Some say, you know, the public can drop off here.
You, of course, can always drop off at the United Way office at 351 Oak Street, but this
all culminates on August 7th because, again, we inventory and then if we have a gap and
we've received monetary donations, then we will order what we're missing.
So that's why, you know, and it's, and it's, we're so grateful for the donations, but
sometimes it's frustrating when five days after, after the collection and we've placed
an order, then all of a sudden, you know, 500 more folders show up and it's like, oh,
yeah, it would have been really nice to have these.
So that's why we're, you know, we're trying to be out on the early side of it and just
really get people going and having August 7th, you know, set their sites on that or before,
right?
Like, of course, it could come to us before.
So we have a most needed list, you can find that on our website, you can find the list
of what we are distributing to kids because we can't meet, you know, kind of every, each
classroom teacher puts out a list and there's general things, right?
Like, let's say, they're a fifth grader, they need four solid color folders, four solid
color notebooks, markers, glue stick, you know, but sometimes one teacher might say, oh,
I'd like my students to have this.
We are unable to meet all of those kind of one-offs, so to speak, but we will meet all of the
basic items.
And so, but this gives the families an opportunity to pull up that list and say, okay, well, you
know, my teacher list says 12 items.
Stuff the bus is going to provide 10 of those items.
I only need to figure out the other two, right?
So there's definitely benefit in that.
It's really cool.
If you're out shopping for us, solid color, everything, if that's helpful.
You know, while the printed folders are absolutely adorable with the puppy on them, that's
not what we're distributing to kids, we're distributing solid color notebooks, solid
color folders.
And this is at the request of the teacher, but it also, you know, it takes away that
disparity, right?
You got four really fun cute folders, and I got four blue folders or, you know, whatever
the case would be.
So, so we're just trying to keep it all, keep it all level and distribute those items.
We also take monetary donations because the biggest expense, as you could imagine, is
backpacks.
It's also the thing that's donated the least because it does cost a lot, right?
So, so we take monetary donations.
We also wrote a grant to the Green Bay Packer Foundation.
I mean, we're always being very resourceful with donations and seeking out grants.
But what we do is, you know, we, we purchase a thousand backpacks and then stuff them
full for, for these kids.
So when they present, it's a drive-through format, you know, the, the person just, you
know, here's kind of a snapshot of how it goes, right?
Like the car presents and the first person approaches the car and says, you know, they
have a little card that was sent to them.
And they'll, so then they'll just radio into the school.
And they'll say, you know, we have a fifth grader, a third grader, and a kindergartener.
Well, by the time that car gets around, those three backpacks are already outside and go,
you know, and get loaded right into the car.
So pretty well oil machine.
But of course, you know, we, we listen and we, and we hear, hopefully, you know, it really,
where there's opportunities.
And one of the things was publishing that list of what we're going to provide.
Because, you know, if, if people don't get their backpack until August 16th, and then
they realize, oh gosh, my kid still needs these other three things, you know, maybe by
then it's, it could be back to school time is expensive, you know, loading the lunch
account and doing, you know, doing all of these things.
So buying tennis shoes and just, just all of it.
And so if they know now in May that, you know, these three things aren't going to be provided,
they can look for that.
So, so that was kind of a, a, a thought that came out of the committee and certainly want
to shout out to all of the schools, the local schools, because they have members of their
leadership teams that are sitting on this committee with us so that we can have this
be the best, you know, COVID forced us into a drive through distribution.
And that's, that, I'll give, I'll give COVID something that, that, that was great, right?
It alleviates, you know, we're not having people standing in line.
There's no reason for them to park their car, get out of their car to walk up and get a
backpack.
It's needed 10 more volunteers to be able to bring them right out, you know, like, there's
good things.
A good thing came out of it, but it's a really efficient machine.
Yeah.
It's just, it's really good.
And so we just encourage people to get registered.
And if you have the ability, buy us some school supplies or make a donation.
And August 7th is the cut off market, market down, make sure that you spread the word about
that too.
A little bit of breaking news here as well.
We are going to be a drop off location here at WFHERN, WRI.
We will take those and make sure that they get to Terry somehow.
We never run into each other, so somehow we'll figure it out way with that.
Definitely be able to get that to you guys.
And we're happy to be able to do that.
So please keep us in mind as well.
If you need to drop off items and you're not on that side of town, you're on this side
of town.
That's fine.
And if you're a local business, you know, willing, like, like you guys to be a drop off,
and our marketing person put together a fabulous media kit.
So there's signs in there that you can print.
You can have a co-branded, you know, the United Way logo and your logo.
And she has it all, like all there.
So it's, I mean, it's super.
I'm doing a remind everybody you touched on something there, Terry, about volunteering.
We could always use some extra hands to help this happen.
I've been a part of this twice where I just, and I didn't need supplies necessarily.
I was going, I went once with Laura and just to see the experience in everything.
And it's so efficient.
I know we had talked about it for years and then experiencing it.
I'm like, oh my gosh, this is really fast.
And a big part of it is the volunteers.
And we thank them and we could always use more for this years.
Yes, for sure.
We do because of kind of the, you know, we need to have a good plan for this.
So, so we're not looking for any spontaneous volunteers.
You know, like anybody to just show up on the day.
We want you to express that interest ahead of time to us.
And so that we can just be like, okay, here's what we need you to do.
Here's where you stand.
Here's how, because there's a, you know, there's a little bit of volunteer coaching
that goes with it, but we definitely could use if people want to help out
with the distribution or the prepacking or the sorting and inventorying.
You know, we definitely are happy to have, have volunteers.
Feel free to reach out to the United Way.
We'll tell you how you can do that to find out more in just a little bit.
Terry, we were talking about when the kiddos are a little bit in the teenage
or younger and getting into school and stuff.
But before that, we want to help out as well because we're talking about the diaper drive.
I mean, yeah, we are.
We're having a lot of conversations about, you know, how we impact kids
and provide people with the supplies and items that they need.
And so this was a response on last year.
We held the first one to just hearing from community partners.
Last year's was really successful, too.
I meant to bring this up the other day with you.
I was, I'm still blown away when I think about how.
Like 15,000 diapers.
Wow, that's incredible.
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
For a first.
Yeah, yeah.
So we are currently collecting diapers.
And one family used all of them.
No, they don't do so.
They're still using them.
They're still using them.
This is like one kid, one kid.
We are collecting diapers, wipes, and pacing creams for, you know,
for local programs that are hearing from community members that, you know,
I need diapers.
I don't have access to or or I have diapers, but I would have enough, right?
And so then that becomes a, a cleanliness, a health, you know,
issue with, with children.
So we responded last year again with, with our first diaper drive and continued it
this year.
And we're seeing, you know, we're seeing a nice response.
I also had the opportunity to write a grant on which leveraged some dollars
to supplement what we receive in donations.
And so our goal is that from mother's day to father's day, you know,
we leveraged as many as the community will support.
And then we will be distributing those to three locations in Southwick County
to first choice pregnancy resource center, the family center, and the food pantry.
This is where people who have these needs are presenting.
This is also an opportunity for our resource specialists at 211 to say, you know,
I understand that you have this need.
Here's where you can find, you know, here's where you can go.
We don't have the capacity.
We've been seeing some United Ways popping up their own like diaper banks.
We just, we don't have like the physical capacity, our building is small.
And then you, you know, you run into like, well, do you spend money on a location
when you really could just spend the money on the diapers, right?
Because these, these organizations that I mentioned that we are partnering with,
they're already seeing the clientele, right?
So we can just get them the supplies they need.
So again, you know, thinking through not duplicating and cost and all of that.
So those are the three distribution locations in Southwick County.
We are also, we expanded this year to the Adams County part of our service area as well.
So collecting diapers there and then those will be distributed through UW Extension,
Adams County and some of their partners.
So, you know, I think we've got a good thing going and again, you know,
trying to, trying to really listen and hear what, what the community needs are.
And we, you know, we had a great, great response last year and looking forward
to the same as this continues up through Father's Day.
We appreciate everybody who has already donated, continue to keep that going.
Everybody, it's a great investment in our future and helping out those that could really use it.
Appreciate you.
And just one other thing regarding diapers.
And the greatest need is actually the largest sizes.
So, you know, while there's less in the box for the same price, right?
You get more newborn size diapers than you get size six.
But what we're hearing, the feedback we're getting is that sizes.
You know, if you're thinking, oh, I'll go buy a bag of diapers.
What we're hearing is size four, five, and six are just really where the greatest need is.
So, just consider that if you're, you know, if you're, if you're thinking about supporting this,
that's where the greatest need lies.
We're speaking with CEO of your NetAway of Sato and M's counties, Terry Johns.
And Terry wanted to talk about another event and then spend some time a little bit on 211 with you.
But just again, some breaking news here for everybody.
I was talking with Stephanie yesterday a little bit and I have agreed after a long negotiation
to be a judge again once more for United Weekend.
We worked it out somehow with all my, you know, so you're paying us?
Needs and everything.
Yeah, well, that's really what it comes down to.
I was trying to have to pay you less.
And actually, somehow I'm paying you guys more than, no, no, I love being a part of this.
A tiny little part of the United Weekend event.
It is probably my favorite event you guys do every year.
It's such a, because of the combination of things.
I admit in many times one of my bigger passions is hunger in our country and something I've paid attention to since I was a little kid.
But I love the idea of how much of a community event this is and the more and more,
it feels like every year it just becomes more and more of such a community event that everybody gets a part of.
Last year, I was talking to somebody at one of the last,
last week of the season went to a game of winter field.
I'm talking to somebody and they were talking about this event for this year and looking forward to it.
They did not even know I worked at the radio station.
Didn't know I knew you or anything like that.
I thought it was just really cool to hear.
I know how much people enjoy this because it's a fun event.
We're going to a rafter game.
We're going to see a rafter win and we're doing some good.
This community does this better than anybody.
Having fun while also raising funds or helping out a community, you know, people.
Yeah, so when you think about the history of this event,
you know, really we said we have a lot of really great food programs that are meeting,
you know, almost able to meet all the need or all the need that we're aware of, right?
Because sometimes we just don't know what people need or how much people need.
But we took it from the standpoint of how do we educate the community
that there are hunger challenges here in our community?
So that was really what made us think, oh, let's do, you know,
let's hop on the food sculpture contest because it just educates the general public
who otherwise just aren't thinking about it.
They haven't had a need.
They haven't been asked to donate, you know, whatever.
But they just might not have found themselves in the space
where they understand that there's hunger issues.
So that, you know, that was kind of what started it.
And then the food from the sculptures is the bonus, right?
So the idea is anyone who attends the rafter game comes, sees the sculptures,
maybe ask some questions, maybe they don't.
Maybe they learn a little bit about hunger by listening to some of the statistics
that are that are read.
Or maybe they, you know, we have an opportunity to do a collection during the game,
you know, maybe they reach in their pocket and throw all their change in the bucket.
Maybe they throw a five in the bucket.
But, you know, it's an opportunity, like just right now in real time
for a couple of hours to be thinking about the hardship that someone else,
you know, maybe that they're saying next to might be experiencing.
And then the true bonus is the next day our local food programs come
and they get to pick up the food and it goes back into, you know,
it goes to their organizations.
And so when someone presents at the food pantry, now maybe there's,
you know, 40 more cans of corn because it was used in a sculpture.
And, and that kind of, you know, that's the, that's the bonus.
But really, you know, our motivation and the idea behind it is to just have
the general public understand that we do have hunger challenges here in our community.
So this event is taking place on June 17th.
It is a Tuesday night.
Happens at the rafters.
The game is 635.
I have no idea who they play.
Sorry.
It's just not relevant to me at this point.
It's not that it's unimportant.
But I'm just saying we're there to promote, to promote hunger and build awareness.
Yeah.
So the food sculptures are built from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
by local businesses, organizations, charitable groups,
whomever would like to build sculptures.
If you've thought about building a sculpture and you haven't signed up,
we can still take a couple of more of registrations if somebody would like to.
We have two classifications, minor league, less than 500 cans, major league,
over 500 cans.
And we have some fun with it.
Like you indicated you're a judge.
So we've got a couple of judges that are helping us, you know, pick favorite sculptures.
The Community Choice Award goes to every person who comes into the rafter game,
gets a ticket to vote.
So, you know, that's kind of, well, you know, favored by the general community.
Oh yeah.
So it's just a really fun, again, opportunity.
You see creativity, you maybe understand the need a little bit better.
And you do whatever your small part is to help us combat that.
See the, your rap.
It's a new team, right?
Yeah.
Traverse city pit spiders.
Yes, pit spiders.
Okay.
At least, yeah, I believe that's what I'm seeing here on the 17th, yeah, I believe so.
Yep.
So it's not the new one.
Isn't there a new team in our league this year?
There is the Royal Oak Leopard Carpet.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yes, I knew there was a new one.
Okay.
I'm excited about this.
They really, you know, whoever they're playing, it's going to be a fun time to tell you
that right now.
But we also enjoy being able to be a part of things with the United Way and helping the
good work you guys do over there.
Certainly with everything we've talked about today, with everything we've talked about
year-long, it's important and vital.
And there's nobody out there listening that it hasn't been touched by the United Way
in some way or another, whether six degrees of separation or not.
Our community is big, but it's also a pretty tight-knit community and I think most people
know that.
But one of the things that we don't get to talk about nearly enough, and that's more
so me, I think.
I don't get a chance to bring it up enough, is 211.
And as we're wrapping up today, Terry, I want to take a little focus on that and let's
talk about 211 a little bit to people.
Yeah.
So 211 is a 24 or seven resource and referral line.
And we have statewide coverage.
We are still working on nationwide coverage, but we're not quite there.
But the state of Wisconsin does have statewide coverage, which adds a certain layer of benefit
right?
It affords us more.
Resources, we have one database for the entire state.
We have one phone system so that when something happens, last week there was a tornado in
Clark County.
Clark County is one of the counties that are 211 context and are serves.
And so the next day, the emergency management director for Clark County reached out to
us at 211 and said, we call it a switch, it's not really, it's figurative switch.
Throw the disaster switch so that we are handling their damage calls.
So we have MOUs with each of the counties.
And this is just one example, right?
So then people could call us and report.
And it was mostly, fortunately, just when damage to buildings, right?
Like no fatalities, no, you know, but we gather that information so that emergency management
doesn't have to park somebody at the phone to treat, you know, to take all of this.
And they can triage from the backside.
They can log in and say, okay, you know, there's 17 reports.
This is all, oh, buildings, oh, here's someone's home.
You know, we should, we should make that a top priority.
Or, you know, however, I'm not suggesting that I know how they prioritize, but that's
just, you know, like they can, they can, they can get it from the backside.
So this is an example of 211, but 211, I think the beauty of it is, it's available all
the time for whatever need you have.
So you might have something that you want to donate and you're not sure where it could
go.
211 can help with that.
211 is certified through the Wisconsin Recovery Addiction Helpline.
So when you call if you're experiencing or a loved one is experiencing something like
that, the resource specialist can help you navigate.
Maybe you are caring for an aging parent and you just want to know, you know, I want
to keep them at home, but I need help, right?
Like I mean, you just think about the overwhelming nature of that.
So 211 can direct you to resources.
So again, it is a referral line.
So they are helping you navigate what programs might be in your community.
So when you call, it is anonymous, but you are asked some information.
You're asked for your zip code, you're asked for, you know, would you like us to reconnect
with you in a few days?
Because sometimes there's that overwhelming list too, right?
There's also now a warm line transfer into what's called the wire system where you can
give permission, you know, maybe for 211 and another organization to be connecting with
each other so that we're making sure that you get the resources, but that is not required.
That's at your, you know, at your agreement, right?
But there are just so many reasons that someone might call 211, the top reasons that we've
been experiencing for quite a while in the communities that we serve are certainly housing
right, maybe rental assistance or eviction prevention.
We also, you know, hear about people calling because of utilities, because the moratorium
protects them from so for so long, but then in April, that shuts off and people need
to get current with their bills.
So utility assistance, food often comes up and sometimes it's, you know, maybe I'm not
living in a space where I have a long term hotel stay, you know, sometimes maybe you can
stay for a month while you're in between, but that means I don't have a stove, you know,
so I need like microwave meals or shelf stable items or so, so some maybe sometimes some
unique food challenges.
And then, of course, childcare, right?
Childcare is a challenge in our communities, maybe open slots or slots in the times that
you need available.
So 211 can connect people because that we have just in our, we serve 13 counties, just
in the 13 counties, we serve, we have about 3,000 resources.
So programs that now those are not all in wood county, I understand that, but, you know,
from the service provider aspect, one of the other things that this helps us with and
we don't ever want to have unmet needs, but the reality is is we have unmet needs or
somebody will call for something and the resource special, so look it up in the database
and there's like nothing, but we do track that.
And so then we're looking at and saying, you know, gosh, in the last six months, we've
had 20 calls for this specific thing.
What do we do?
You know, sometimes maybe we can't, maybe we can't do anything, but sometimes we might
be like, oh, what about this organization?
They do something, you know, like, could we, so we're not ignoring, well, maybe we
can't help you in the here and now.
We're not ignoring those unmet needs either.
You know, that's part of our evaluation of, of program and service delivery.
So, you know, 211, we don't try to keep it quiet, but it, but it seems to be kind of
one of our best kept secrets, you know, we try to share, we will pop it up on billboards
once in a while.
We'll, you know, talk about it at meetings, talk about it when I'm with you, but sometimes
it's just not top of mind for folks.
We know that 211 is successful and it's, it, it does the job and the job that is such
a gray area for many of us.
Now a lot of people know that because they've used 211, but you also know that because
we don't have to put as much attention on it because it is thriving and doing so very
well and that's a big thanks to the people working those phones, as well as the community.
Because one of the things that's so important about using 211 services is the data that
Terry was talking about that is collected from that.
That, that, that helps unite a ways around the country, let alone here locally and everything.
So by using that service, not only are you getting help and the help you need, but you're
also helping out the united way and helping with the data of that, it really goes a long
ways with these things.
So whether it's that or any other thing is spread the word about 211, make sure everybody
knows it's a service that's usable.
Yeah, and it's great.
I mean, just for a little context, so our contact center handled five, I was also going
to have the statistic 5,116 calls last year.
Wow.
So I mean, that's, that's a lot, but we want more.
I'd like it to get higher.
Yeah, we can raise those numbers up and we're going to help you do that.
Terry, if people have follow up questions would like to know more about some of the things
we talked about today, what's the best way to get a hold of you guys?
You can give us a call at 715-421-0390 or of course you can always get probably the majority
of your questions answered by visiting our website at uwac.org or following us on social
media.
You know, we try to share as much as we can, but please feel free to reach out.
We also like visitors.
You know, we're good with that.
We're at 351 Oak Street if you're bringing diapers or school supplies.
You know, we love to, love to connect.
Appreciate you guys say hi to the team over there for us and we'll talk again real soon.
Sounds great.
And thank you for joining the conversation, everybody here at WFHR's Rapids Report.