Hello all, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report, probably brought to you by Crockett Septic for
this June 17th, 2025. Have your host James J. Milla here, welcoming in the Distudio, our
good friend C.E.O. of your United Way of Southwood and Amps Counties, Terry John.
Hello.
Hey, good to have you with us, Terry. How you doing?
Great. Great to be here.
We got a lot of things to get to today, but before we get ahead of ourselves, I want
to rewind a little bit with you. We've wrapped up a couple of things with the United
Way, the big diaper drive that was going on from Mother's Day to Father's Day wrapped up.
How did that go?
Yeah, it went very well. Our office is literally piled full of diapers right now, and I really
can't tell you like a number, a quantity, because we kind of had to push pause. We are also
today, we wrapped up our great book Giveaway, so that is, you know, was a reading in the
Park series, I'm wrapped up today at the Vesper Library, so I'm looking forward to having
numbers on that, looking forward to get someone counting diapers, and we also, you know,
going on right now as we speak, it is the construction for United We Can. So, you know,
I don't have, like I said, I don't have a lot of data to share with you about those
events, but I will tell you, Great Book Giveaway, all of the locations were well attended,
so that is great. You know, getting books in the hands of kids is a huge priority for
us, and I'm actually participating today, tomorrow and Thursday, in a conference put on by
the Dallae Wood Foundation for Imagination Library. So, it's the 30th Year of Imagination
Library, which is, you know, a program that's very dear to us at United Way funded by our
Women United. So, I'm getting a lot of information, you know, from them at the same time, so it's
a great time to be in the reading space and book space. What kind of things do you go over
over that, and do you get to meet Dallae? Well, she was, right, it was virtual. They talked
about doing it in person, so I was kind of looking forward to that. You know, I was like,
oh, maybe I could just make my way there. But, you know, really, it was kind of neat because
the opener this morning, and I can't even speak high enough about the virtual conference platform
that they use, like flawless. I mean, I was quite impressed, right? Like, so there's, I mean,
there's general sessions, there's breakout sessions, just like if you went to a conference,
and you just select, you know, which ones you're interested in, and it'll say, oh, your next
one is in five minutes, and, you know, pretty cool. But anyway, the opening session this morning
was actually a really cool message from the Library of Congress. Oh, wow. And so the 100,000th book
was from Imagination Library, was donated to the Library of Congress, and then, so they did a
little replay of that when that happened, and then the 1,000th book was also, you know, so,
so really cool. But, you know, that's one of the things that when we are out at Great Book Giveaway,
and when we are doing diaper distribution, you know, Imagination Library is one of our
priorities is getting kids in our communities, because we did expand that into the Adams County
part of our service area, too. So our entire United Way service area, all children birth to age
five are eligible for three for free books through through Imagination Library. So, you know, I
think that that's quite noteworthy. We have about 400 kids enrolled right now, which, you know,
sometimes people are like, oh, only 400, you know, especially the the women that are part of
women United, you know, they'd like to see every kid. But, but really, you know, when you think
about that, that's like 22% of the eligible kids. That's actually a pretty good rate. However,
we would love to have more kids. So, you know, if you know of a child who resides in Southwood or
Adams County, and they are not receiving Imagination Library books, they can sign up. The child
has to reside Southwood or Adams, not, you know, the grandparent to the Andrew Uncle, you know,
really because of our capacity to fund the program. But we do encourage you to sign kids up.
And so the way that you do that is visit our website, www.swac.org. And there is a enrollment form,
or you certainly can visit any local library. They all have the enrollment forms. You know,
we're working to just make sure that those are out there and available. Or just give us a call
if you're not sure. You can reach us at 211. They can help direct you. But, you know, reading is just
yeah, it's so important. And, you know, thank you for for joining us, being a reader, I guess,
reader at the at the zoo. So, you know, we just we had a whole ton of awesome volunteers. And like
I said, that wrapped up today. So, super excited about planning next year already.
I had a big shout out to all the volunteers, all the people that were helping out with that one.
That was such a successful and fun event once again this year. And as you say, looking forward to
next year, I want to thank all the volunteers are the people donating books as well. And so much
of that. And Terry, the as far as the diaper drive goes, the fact that, you know, numbers are here
there. The fact that you look at that and you can't count them just on the off the top of your head,
that's a great sign. Like it's a great sign. A ginormous pile of diapers. And we have monetary
donations to spend you. Yeah. So, we've got more diapers coming. So, we will actually not
distribute diapers until probably like July 1st because we just need to get everything,
kind of get our bearings. They will be distributed in Adams County to the WIC program. And then
here in Southwood County, they get distributed to focus because they become part of the food pantry
staples. So, focus the family center and first choice pregnancy resource center. We did already
make a large donation over at focus because we just were having we didn't have room. So, we
took some stuff over there mid mid drive. So, that's really awesome. And then we did have the
opportunity to write a grant for the diaper drive, which we did receive. But we are not going to
distribute those diapers right now. We're going to distribute everything we collected. And then in
September and November, we're going to do another drop of diapers with those funds because,
you know, then that way they have a steady stream of supply versus just a whole mountain at once.
So, our goal is to, you know, make sure that these are available. So, you know, hats off to the
community. Really great, really great showing. Again, I also expanded this program into Adams this
year. I have a little bit lighter there, but that's how it was, you know, for Southwood the first
year that we did it too. So, you know, we have to grow into it, right? But the things that we,
the dollar, or that I'm sorry, the diapers that we were able to leverage still, you know, make
their way back into each respective community. So, we're, we're super pumped about this.
And one of our, one thing that we are very pumped about, and we've got a lot of things going on in
the area in the next couple of weeks, and this week alone, a little alone in the next couple of
weeks, Rapids has some signature events, I think, the cranberry blossom fest, the watersky show tournament.
These are science of summer. I know for us, and I'll just speak for myself, certainly, the United
Weekend event is one of those signature events and those key events to me that, okay, we are in
summer. It is go time. We're having fun. It is warm out. It's nice out. In part because, certainly,
the, the United Weekend cause is a one that's close to my heart and has been since I was a kid.
But it's something that I think this area does better than anywhere, having a good time for a good
cause. You know, it's such a good combination of that. Absolutely. And the idea, you know, having
an event like this at the Raptor game is to have a captive audience of community members to
raise awareness around, around hunger. So the food sculpture building is, you know, kind of
wrapping up, goes till four o'clock. I will tell you earlier today, when I was there, there was
one, one that was done, and it was so cute. Remember the hungry hippo game? Yeah. Oh, it's that. Oh, it's,
oh, and it's fabulous. It was super cute. So, um, but, and I can't speak to the others because
they were all still building when I was there. You know, so they're, they're mid at, at different
stages of the process. But you know, it is a really great opportunity. Um, it is beautiful outside
today. We encourage you to join us at the Raptors this evening, 635, um, game time. You will get
two tickets to be able to vote. So we have two categories, um, Major League. So 500 cans are
greater, minor league, less than 500 cans. And you, as a community member, get to pick your favorite
for each. So I mean, that's really fun. Yeah. Yeah. These teams are working hard. We've got,
you know, a whole variety of folks over there putting their finishing touches on and we certainly
appreciate that. The dollars and food raised tonight. So we do a miracle minutes, which is a,
you know, kind of a passing of the hat, passing of the little bucket, um, to collect money for
the four food programs. Um, so the, the dollars and the food leverage in the sculptures will be
donated to local food programs, um, which is also really important. And it's, you know, really
the side benefit of this. Our goal with this event specifically is to raise awareness of hunger
and help people understand that while it might not look how it's shown to us on TV or maybe in
urban areas, um, that we, we do still have community members that struggle, um, with hunger and
face hunger issues. And, you know, maybe it's an income issue. Maybe, maybe it's not. But, but the
reality is there are folks that struggle. And this is an opportunity for us to put some awareness
on that. Um, just for those, uh, audience of members out there to know if you weren't hearing us
in the morning show, the Raptors game from last night, uh, was cut short because of the weather.
So the gate's going to open at five. Anyone who holds a ticket is going to be available to get into
that game. And then the next game as Terry touched on will kick off. Hopefully it's 635, uh,
somewhere around there. But either way, uh, you've got a great Raptor and more Raptor baseball
than you plan for going on today, which is fun too. Uh, and all of this going, being said,
when are lose? We win as a community in this one. I think it's noteworthy. Terry, um, when we were
going over the else report, uh, with you in the United Way a while back earlier in last year or late
last year, maybe it was, um, statistically, uh, in this stadium, which is going to be filled today.
You're going to have some people in there that are going to be needing these services and,
and some family and some people in your community, some people in your neighborhood,
some people that your kids go to school with, um, and to your point, uh, there, it isn't as if anybody's
walking around with a sign that says this. Many people, more times than not, uh, are in need of
these things. And they're not going to say anything or they may not even, you know, talk about it
with others and everything. So when you're helping with something like this, you're not just helping
a stranger, you're helping community, you're helping family, you're, you're being a part of
stuff. And you can do this just by taking in some baseball and dropping off a non-perishable
food item or even beyond that, uh, you know, keeping this going beyond today and keeping this in your
heart and your mind beyond today of how important this is next when, you know, we've got the school
season kicking off before we know it and we'll have other needs there. That is a segue, Terry.
Because I did want to get into stuff the bus and talking a little bit about making sure that
kids are registered for this. Yeah, absolutely. So we, yes, shifted years now from books and
diapers into school supplies. Um, so this is a multifaceted, um, you know, kind of event. So there's
two different areas. One, um, this is the time to register students for school supplies. So if you
or, um, you know, your grandchild or whatever, um, qualifies for free and reduced lunch,
then that child also qualifies for free school supplies. They have to be registered. I'm in the
only way to register is to visit our website, UWAC.org. Um, this has been sent home from the
local school districts a few times, but it is available there. Um, we do need information on
the student. We need to know what grade they're going into. We need it so we know what supplies to,
to provide. Um, so you do have to fill that out. Oh, very occasionally we'll get somebody. Well,
I don't want to fill out the farm. Well, that's the, sorry, yeah, that's the big. So, so we do,
we do need, we do need the information. Um, if you don't have a computer at home or at, you know,
easy access to a computer, it is mobile friendly. But if you don't have access, you can call 211
between eight and five Monday through Friday when we have the phones local. Unfortunately,
we can't serve the sign up form, you know, maybe at eight o'clock at night because our, our 211
after hours calls are not handled locally. So if you need assistance call between eight and five
Monday through Friday, 211 and they can walk you through the stuff, the stuff, the desk form.
So all students who need supplies need to be registered at the time of registration,
you will select your pickup time. So pickup is done as a drive through style. It happens the third
weekend of August. So Friday evening, Saturday morning, our year options. I believe we have half
an hour increments on there and they are first come first serve. So if, you know, if there's a 30-minute
window that doesn't show, it's because it's full. And the, and the reason that we do that is so that
we don't have a line that is, you know, four miles long, we just want to keep the traffic flow moving.
And so if your time slot is already filled, just pick the next best one that works for you.
And you will get a reminder card in the mail and it is color coded by the half hour. So then we
know who should be, you know, it should be just all green cards now or all purple cards.
So you will want to watch for that via us mail. But the important thing really is is get your kids
registered if they qualify registration. Open May 1st closes August 1st. So now how do we serve
all these kids? Right? So we do a school supply drive that we call stuff the bus. And the idea is
that now there are local businesses, organizations that are willing to be drop off points. And then we
collect like everything culminates at lunch by the river. We are the host, the sponsor of Lunch
by the River on August 7th. And this is where you bring all of your school supplies. So if you are a
business organization, you're an individual. All the supplies come to lunch by the river. And at
that point, they get sorted and inventory. So, you know, all the yellow folders go in one basket,
all the red notebooks in another basket. Everything gets inventory and then we do a quick order
for the things that we're missing. And then the next week, we actually do a prepack.
So we utilize some local volunteers. And this is why we needed that information on your students.
Because we know that we have to pack 67 third grade backpacks. Well, here's the third grade
supply list. Fill the backpack, put it in the third grade pile. Because then when they come through
the drive-through and they say, you know, we have a third grader, a sixth grader, and a, you know,
maybe a sophomore in high school, we can pull those packs and have them ready by the time they get
around to the front of the building. So we do on our website have a list of most needed items
that we need for donation. We also, if you are a local business who is listening and would love
to get, you know, maybe you want to get people through your doors, you could be a collection site.
Excuse me. And they will, we will provide you with a little media kit. So you'll have social
media posts, you'll have signs, you'll have, you know, pretty much everything that you need. So
that's another way to be involved, you know, from the business standpoint is to be a collection site.
And show, you know, how you commit to the community, you know, by donating and collecting.
Terry, are we going to look for some volunteers to help with this when it comes to the lunch
by the river? So we could use, yes, we could use some volunteers at lunch by the river on August
7th. That would be sorting school supplies and counting. Then we move the supplies from lunch
by the river over to East Jr. High. And so we could use some hands over there to help us,
you know, laying everything out for the prepack. We will be doing prepack that following week
on August 15th. So there could be some help there and then distribution. So if someone is
interested in volunteering for stuff that buss specifically, you should get a hold of us at
the United Way at 715-421-0390. And make sure to do that right away, everybody, because they,
the more the information they have on that and they know ahead of time, then they may not have
to worry about having as many people. Yes, and it is helpful to know, you know, how many we're
going to have and how we work our way through that. Yeah. And Terry, I think we covered everything.
I think we nailed it. I think we got it. Encourage you, though, to go to uswac.org to find out
more information, certainly when it comes to registration or volunteering or any of those things.
Two on one is also an option for you. Keep that in mind as well. And go to Facebook,
go to Instagram, go subscribe to their pages, share their posts on your page. You just never
know who might see them otherwise. Terry, thank you so much for the time. You bet. We will have more
for you coming up and be listening for that. And thank you to everybody for listening to WFHR's
Rapids Report, proudly brought to you by Crocketsceptic.
