Summer 2012 UnitedWayAdk Newsletter

Summer 2012 Serving Clinton, Essex and Franklin Counties

United Way of the Adirondack Region, Inc. Our Mission Statement To be a Leader in Community Partnership Building and to Increase the Organized Capacity of People to Care for One Another

ADIRONDACK REGION 2012-2013 Board of Directors Kirk Stallsmith President Gerald Morrow Vice President Victoria Marking Secretary Anne B. Cutaiar Treasurer Susan LeBlanc Durocher Immediate Past President Gerald K Bates Krista Boule Jon Cooper Lonnie Cross Kjell Dahlen, M.D. Edward Davis Randy Douglas David Graves Hugh Hill Craig L. King Karen S. Kunz Bruce Lawson William Price Joyce Rafferty Dawn Scott John VanNatten Jonathan Whitehouse Stephen Wood John C. Bernardi Executive Director

PACESETTERS NEEDED It is that time of year when we are working hard on planning for the fall United Way Campaign.

With this in mind, we would be interested in what companies would like to participate in our Pacesetter Campaign.

What is a Pacesetter? A Pacesetter is an organization or company that is willing to help the United Way of the Adirondack Region, Inc get their fall campaign off to a good start by holding their employee drive in July or August.

Why be a Pacesetter? 1) You will have your campaign finished early. 2) You will have your campaign results reported at the Kickoff Breakfast in September. 3) You will enable the United Way to get its campaign off to a good start.

Last year’s Pacesetters raised 20.1% of the goal! If you are interested in being a Pacesetter for the 2013 United Way Campaign please call us at 563-0028 or email Kathy at Kathy@unitedwayadk.org.

Help us to pave the way to a great campaign!

OLYMPIAN CELEBRITY GOLF TOURNAMENT On June 14, 2012 we hosted our twelfth annual Olympian Celebrity Golf Tournament at the beautiful Craig Wood Golf & Country Club in Lake Placid. During this day of fun three-person teams are matched with past and current Olympians and Celebrities for a round of golf followed by a dinner.

The winners of this years Olympian Celebrity Golf Tournament were: 1st Place Gross (Jack Shea Memorial Trophy) The Engel & Volkers Lake Placid Real Estate team Phil Thayer, Larry Barry and Jim Batt and Bill Tavares 1992 U.S. Olympic Luge athlete and U.S. Woman’s Bobsled Coach Team were the Low Gross team winner with a score of 60 1st Place Net (Mike Mannix Memorial Trophy) Nine Platt Hospitality Group Bob Smith, Justin Besaw, Pat Argy and Ricky Morgan coach for freestyle moguls & Aerials skiing Team with a score of 53.

2012 PACESETTERS Abbott, Frenyea, & Russell American Legion Post #1619, Morrisonville Architectural & Engineering Design Assoc.

Alan B. & Jennifer Booth Brown Funeral Home Champlain National Bank Champlain Valley Electric Supply Child Care Coordinating Council NC CFA Insurance Agency Denton Publications Donlan & Barcomb Investment Svcs Eye Care for the Adirondacks FirstView Eye Care Georgia Pacific Girl Scouts of NENY G.U. Family Mkts.

Key Bank Landrock E & S Consulting Murnane Bldg. Contractors NBT Bank Niles, Piller & Bracey, Attnys Nine Platt Hospitality Group Northern Insuring Agency Plattsburgh City School District Plattsburgh Ford Target The Northeast Group United Way Adirondack Region UPS– Ground UPS-SCS Miscellaneous (Indv. & bus.)

2012-2013 PARTNER AGENCIES Adirondack Community Action Programs, Inc. Adirondack Experience, Inc. Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Center AuSable Valley Habitat for Humanity Barnabas House Homeless Shelter and Services Behavioral Health Services North, Inc. Boy Scouts, Twin River Council, Inc. Catholic Charities of Clinton & Essex Counties Catholic Charities of Malone Champlain Children’s Learning Center, Inc. Champlain Valley Chapter of the Compassionate Friends Champlain Valley Educational ServicesCareer Pathways Stipend Program Champlain Valley Family Center Child Care Coordinating Council of the North Country, Inc. Citizen Advocates, Inc. ComLinks– A Community Action Partnership ETC Housing, Corp.

Families First in Essex County Family Champions Of the North Country, Inc Family Promise of Clinton County. Inc. Girl Scouts of Northeastern NY, Inc. Hospice of the North Country, Inc. Joint Council for Economic Opportunity of Clinton & Franklin Counties, Inc Literacy Volunteers of Clinton County Literacy Volunteers of Essex/Franklin Counties, NY Mental Health Association in Essex County, Inc. Mountain lake services – Early Intervention Program National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Champlain Valley North Country Assoc for the Visually Impaired North Country Center for Independence North Country Cultural Center for the Arts: Disadvantaged Youth Program North Country Life Flight, Inc. North Country Regional Traumatic Brain Injury Center Plattsburgh YMCA Pyramid Lake Caring Neighbors Project Retired & Senior Volunteer Program of Clinton County Retired & Senior Volunteer Program of Essex County Senior Citizens Council of Clinton County, Inc Shipman Youth Center of Lake Placid Ted K. Community Center/Plattsburgh

North Country Regional Volunteer Center In the fall of 2011, The New York State Commission on National and Community Service proudly announced the establishment of ten regional Volunteer Centers. The state was awarded a volunteer grant to establish, enhance and support a regional volunteer infrastructure throughout New York State.

The primary focus is to engage volunteers to solve community issues. The goal is to include all service organizations in their activities as well as provide support to community organizations throughout the state. On July 18, 2012, the United Way of the Adirondack Region will launch the North Country Regional Volunteer Center. This is an amazing opportunity for local citizens to get involve in community service and support their local community organizations. Volunteers make an important contribution to our community.

Reason for Volunteering Help others Make a difference Enjoy a meaningful conversation Feel involved Use your skills in a productive way Develop new skills Meet new people Explore new areas of interest Meet good people Strengthen your resume Connect with your community

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) The EITC Coalition of Clinton & Essex Counties met on May 18, 2012 to celebrate the successful 2011 tax season. A number of the volunteers were recognized for the outstanding commitment to this year’s free tax preparation.

The EITC coalition is a service to the community to help families and individuals get the money and assistance they’ve earned by providing free income tax preparation and e-filing for those who may be less able to afford a paid tax preparer. EITC is a refundable income tax credit that is available to low-income workers with “earned” incomewage or self employment income.

This year there were 9 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) & 2 AARP sites set up. There was 4,885 returns prepared this year by the sites associated with United Way with a total of $5,901,368.00 in refunds resulting from the project. Of the returns prepared there was $1,439,416.00 in EITC refunds. Over 3,000 returns were completed in Plattsburgh. This was the second highest site for returns with Rochester being first in the state.

Members of the EITC Coalition are The United Way of the Adirondack Region, Inc., OneWorkSource, Adirondack Community Action Programs, Inc. (ACAP), Senior Citizens Council of Clinton County, Office for the Aging, Department of Social Services, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), Joint Council for Economic Opportunity Inc. (JCEO) American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Ufirst Credit Union, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Family Welcome Center of CVES and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Champlain National Bank, Akwesasne Housing Authority, North Country Community College.