 Nancy Jeske, campaign coordinator for the United Way of Sheboygan County. New name, new campaign, 2012, here we are. And I have with me three guests. I have our campaign chairs, Adam Peene, Sheboygan County Administrator, Todd Miller, Shank Exac, and Anne Wundergem, project manager with the United Way. That new name has been quite the feature for the beginning of this campaign. And I think it's got us all really in high gear to get this campaign rolling and going. You fellas did such a great job at the kickoff. Adam, what were those three words you told us at that campaign kickoff that just echoed? To every wall. Thank goodness I remember. We are family. Right. We are family. It's a wonderful, wonderful theme and it's really I think what Todd and I have appreciated more than ever by having the honor of co-chairing the campaign this year because there's so many people involved with United Way and it's what makes it so successful. Todd, why do you think we chose that theme? We are family. Not last year, but this year for some reason it really has new meaning. Well, it worked awfully well last year and we certainly expected to work equally as well this year. When I look at the definition of family, I tend to define things in terms of numbers. And the way I look at we are family is we are family consists of 4,600 people volunteering over 170,000 hours last year towards a very successful campaign. There were over 4,000 or I'm sorry 9,000 donors last year that contributed towards the very successful campaign that we expect to repeat this year. And we do expect to repeat it. And with you guys out there leading the charge, I think we have a pretty good shot. But I want to get back to that new name. The other thing that made our family so complete was the fact that Sheboygan Falls United Way has joined us this year. And that gives us a complete east to west county to work with. A wonderful opportunity. They've been cooperative friends for as long as I've been with the United Way. And we've all been around for a long time. So we have new territory. But again, it's like welcoming new members of a family. So that does have new meaning for us this year as well. But do you have more than we are family going for? You've got a campaign cabinet with 45 members. Would you like to tell us a little bit about the structure of that campaign cabinet and how you can depend on it to get you through? We're very fortunate to have a very solid and complete cabinet. As you just stated, we have in addition to myself and my wife Linda and Adam and his wife Chris as campaign chairman. We do have over 40 campaign cabinet volunteers that have committed significant amounts of time towards the successful campaign. And I believe behind them there are literally hundreds of other individuals that help support the campaign cabinet all working together as a family to make this campaign successful. Again, volunteer is the word. They're all busy people. They're all busy people. Everyone on the campaign is a very busy person and as you know we tend to see a lot of the same good people step up year after year and we can't thank them enough but Todd hit it on the head. Our campaign cabinet is strong. They're experienced. We have some new people with fresh ideas but overall between the campaign members, the volunteers, the staff at United Way, U2 included, we have such a strong team in place and it's just a pleasure to be a part of. I mean Todd and I didn't know each other that well at all prior to this opportunity and we've gotten to get to know one another better and obviously the people involved and not only do you know you're helping your community be successful, you're helping people out there with great needs but along the way you meet so many wonderful people and you gain such appreciation for those that are every day committing their lives to helping others be successful or get the helping hand they need to get back on track. So it's just wonderful to be a part of. The one thing that I do know is that two-thirds of your cabinet is returning and many of them have been around on that cabinet for six or seven years so I think they are enjoying what they're doing and obviously the results show and we do have a goal set this year which I know you worked very hard to agree upon and come about. Would you like to discuss that goal? Sure. After much discussion and based on last year's very successful campaign of raising $2.4 million we established this year's campaign goal to be $2.5 million and together we are going to make that happen. That's roughly a two percent increase over the prior campaign but we believe that the spirit and the enthusiasm is out there to make that goal occur. I know that your spirit is in it but you had to have spirit coming in in order to agree to the task of being co-chairs. What finally pushed you over that edge to say yes that you would co-chair the campaign? For me personally it was kind of a gradual decision in that I've had the pleasure of being on the board of directors for United Way now for four years or so and I've been involved with the campaign cabinet I think for seven or eight years. I think Nancy you were the person who recruited me years ago so when I was asked to co-chair this with Todd I was flattered by the request I thought that it was an opportunity to step up and provided additional leadership but more importantly just to continue working with wonderful people we have such a good team in place so for me it was kind of a natural evolution to have this opportunity and then also the more time you spend with United Way you gain a greater appreciation for the needs in this community. I mean there's a lot of good people in this community with good jobs that may not be aware that at Safe Harbor they serve 3922 people last year because of domestic abuse they may not be aware that there's hundreds of runaway teenagers they certainly aren't aware of the needs for mental illness or people in crisis every now and then someone may talk to someone or hear about something in the paper but on I think until you get more involved and meet with the agencies the United Way affiliated agencies or the good work good people again dedicating their lives to helping others you just don't know so it's it's incredible to be part of this organization if people aren't if they haven't gotten involved we certainly encourage them to do so all they have to do is contact one of you at United Way or anyone on the cabinet and they'll get the information they need but if you haven't been part of it before you you again you develop this ongoing understanding of the needs in this community and how we can be part of helping people and making it an even better community. Tad how about you what pushed you over the edge? Well I was equally as flattered to be asked because I know there's many capable candidates out there for this task probably what pushed me over the edge is the fact that myself and my wife Linda are both from Sheboygan County we grew up in this area spent most of our lives here we raised our family here our three children grew up in Sheboygan County Sheboygan County is a great place to live work play and raise a family and the United Way and its agencies really make the county to be a great place the United Way agencies solve problems and address needs that most people in this community really don't even realize exist they do that with love and compassion and without a great deal of gratitude are there with lots of gratitude for those that are receiving the need the services and talking about those services and wonder Jim our project manager has really given us two marvelous projects to be working on and would you like to tell us a little bit about what you have put on the plate for Adam and Todd to feature? Well thank you for talking about the plate one of the projects that I really have the privilege of working on is called the food for tomorrow initiative and I know Adam you're somewhat familiar with it being on the board but a number of years ago there was a belief that Sheboygan County could benefit from a study done on the food system and how it meets the needs of people who might be struggling to meet their food security needs we don't call it hunger anymore we call it food security and part of that was looking at how the pantries meet those needs other feeding programs meet those needs and in the broader context we have a number of businesses in the community that produce food cheese sausage that many times have food that they can donate and how can we improve that donation system and storage system so part of my role at United Way was to really conduct an assessment and looking at the users of the food system as well as people who might donate to that food system including businesses and put together a business plan for United Way and that business plan was put together in 2010 and it really was based on building blocks and many of you remember the pyramid that used to be the food pyramid now you have the food plate so that's when Nancy talked about the plate what was nice about that business plan is you could take one of those blocks and do something with it but you could also form the entire pyramid so we could look at when funding became available mix and match and really do some unique things and the one event I want to mention that I think you're both familiar with was the animal meat sale at the county fair two years ago through an employee at one of our local businesses somebody suggested that maybe people bidding on those animals would like to donate an animal to the food bank and we in our third year now we received just one extra hog the other day so we have five hogs one cow and two lambs that were donated and are being harvested and that meat will then be shared with the the pantries to give to the consumers of their services so just some unique things have come out of that food for tomorrow plan and one of the other neat things that we have uncovered is the need for our food pantries which are constantly empty so that has been an ongoing part of our campaigns the food drives and Anne could you shed a little light on that this year absolutely as part of the campaign and I know when you're out talking to your volunteers and also the businesses that you meet and Nan also goes out to see is we're encouraging those businesses to do food drives as part of their campaign I brought a sheet of paper along and I know that everybody will be able to see it but we offer a resource to our businesses and what we're really focusing on is healthier foods I don't know what you have for breakfast but I know I've been trying to eat healthier and when you think about people going to a pantry and what people typically donate to a pantry it might not always be something that's as healthy so we develop this in terms of protein foods grain foods looking at healthier options and then also when you donate think about a family of four and donate maybe what would be a breakfast for a family of four so it could be oatmeal with evaporated milk some applesauce 100 fruit juice in a plastic container really recommending no glass that type of thing always look at the expiration dates a lot of times things that get donated are beyond their expiration date which makes it very difficult to use this year the Rotary Clubs are coming across with an initiative and I think you're a Rotarian Adam I'm not sure Todd if you are or not but making spirits bright will be a light display show that they're looking at putting on and the entrance fee will be a donation of some canned goods or food products so again there's just a tons of number of ways that people can get involved one of the companies last year did the September apple drive and asked employees to bring in a bag of apples and those went to the pantries again looking at how can we help people that use pantries have options of healthier foods to eat because of the health problems we all face in terms of not only our calorie intake but our food choices and if you've never been to a pantry I invite you to come out with me some time and and see what a tremendous job they do in trying to meet special health needs of the population and our pantry users our children elderly singles and families and it just really supplements them and being able to meet their basic needs for rent utilities and other expenses now I know that the two of you are very aware of the food issues in the community but I know that the two of you also set about going to visit agencies to see firsthand what our agencies are dealing with and what programs are dealing with just so that you both could become more familiar with the true needs in this community would you like to share with us some of those observations that really really got to you sure we spent two and a half days visiting various united way agencies and seeing firsthand how hard they work for the benefit of their agency we came away with a number of adjectives to describe our experience I would call so use some of those adjectives as sobering enlightening interesting eye-opening humbling but one of the adjectives I'd use is proud or pride it's amazing how hard the executive directors of these agencies work for their agencies to make them successful certainly we saw many many interesting things and learned many interesting interesting facts about agencies for example big brothers big sisters has a simple program called the lunch buddies program that allows a person to spend as little as one hour a week with a lunch buddy doing just that having lunch with their with their school age friend talking and spending time with that person and getting to know them and through testing afterwards that agency has learned that 75 percent of those kids experience increased levels of self-confidence I thought that was interesting very good Adam what struck you well again it was such an eye-opening somber experience for both of us and I thought the adjectives that Todd expressed were dead on a couple of them that really come to mind Lutheran social services there we talked about you know again a lot of runaway situations and having two teenage daughters that was touching for me because you just can only imagine how trying that must be on the family and those individuals so so glad that that support group is there we went to the Salvation Army in a beautiful addition there what a what a wonderful contribution by this community again team or collaboration to put that addition on so we went through that beautiful addition together but you walk into that room and see a whole family using one room for a month or more and you quickly understand the difference between wants and needs and thank goodness the Salvation Army is there we went to Bridgeway met with Kristen Blanchard and I was so touched by that visit in particular because she's someone who puts her heart and soul into helping others it's a career choice for her and she talked about you know working with single mothers who are striving to hang on to their children you know just tough times perhaps just got out of a correctional facility have no support group no family no real friends they can rely on that are going to help them fact their friends might help them go the other direction so if you're going to be part of the Bridgeway program you sign an extensive contract with more requirements than any of us would ever want to agree to it's it's very rigid a very thoughtful process to help someone again get back on their feet and she shared experiences from time to time of having to break up a domestic fight between a mother and a daughter and being Kristen being a smaller individual would I couldn't imagine being involved with breaking up a fight and going home with bruises or a bite mark on her and as Todd and I discussed even our worst days never that bad and then finally safe harbor as I mentioned earlier when you learn and hear the statistic of 3922 nights nights and care for people who have suffered because of domestic violence you can't help but be touched by that and thankful for a place like safe harbor so we're so fortunate in this community to have wonderful programs in place association like united way that's helping provide the resources for these affiliate agencies to provide the support and again we are family if we aren't all working together if we aren't all doing what we can providing the resources to help people like Kristen and others provide those much needed services it doesn't get done it just doesn't get done so thankfully as Todd mentioned we're proud to be part of a team that's had a great track record in the past and and we're looking forward to having a real successful campaign this year as well well you are men on a mission and I was with you at salvation armies visit that we made and I remember you asking what was to them the deepest need in this community do you remember what major health strum answered you it's going to be a perfect segue to and wonder Jim health care ah yes yes and and that leads us to another initiative that you were deep into yes on behalf of united way and six years ago united way said we have a need in the community and we want to assess that need and the need was have for health care and based on that assessment uh $20,000 of seed money was given by united way to healthy sheboygan county 2010 and that was part of the sheboygan county health and human services department in terms of community planning it took six years and six years of hard work and planning partnerships I think we talked about teamwork but partnerships is another good example um coming on board with that initiative was over a health care st nicolas hospital most recently prevea the acuity foundation just a number of community partners and organizations that said we need to do something to help people address their unmet health care needs we have um over 18,000 individuals in sheboygan county as of july that are on medical assistance badger care almost 8,000 of those are children they have unmet needs for dental care up until january of this year we did not really have a place for those children to go to seek dental services other than milwaukee or green bay so after six years of planning in june I was really happy to announce on behalf of the lakeshore community health center that they had received a federal grant of $650,000 so when you look at the $20,000 of seed money that united weight provided some additional funding from or a health care st nicolas hospital the acuity foundation tons of volunteer hours as you've talked about with their other organizations I guess we can proudly say on behalf of lakeshore community health center we will have an integrated medical home for families that have unmet health needs the health center I know you both had I believe an opportunity to visit the the physical location will provide primary and preventative health care so immunizations well child visits basic annual physicals that some people have not been able to access the dental care we have been operating since january first and have seen 900 people keeping in mind that january through may was one day a week and it only went to four days a week beginning in june so by the end of july 900 people had their dental care met I have to share one quick story before I let you ask another question Nancy jack waters who is now the executive director of the lakeshore community health center and I were talking the other day and he said you know I can look in the x-ray and I can't tell you what that x-ray is telling me but the dentist was explaining in this x-ray what it meant and said if we don't get this individual to an oral surgeon to have all his teeth extracted he's going to die it's that infected you know when you think about that we need to come up with a little bit of money to help that payment for the oral surgeon but that makes a big difference Kristen who you talked about at sheboydon county interfaith had a mother who had all her teeth extracted she's no longer on high blood pressure medication she has her dentures she's able to work she's got a job so we'll be providing the lakeshore community health center will be providing that primary health care dental care and down the road a little bit mental health services we have a location and I will say it on the air it's 1931 north a street two medical exam rooms six dental operatories and before we leave the program I did write down the phone number so I can share it if people want to call for services but again teamwork partnership working to address the needs identified in the community supported by our other medical providers in the community so just a new tremendous resource that are part of your campaign this year is it safe to conclude that the 900 people that's received dental care the first half the year wouldn't have received that care without that clinic correct that's absolutely correct that's terrific and I would like to point out that this is not a free clinic payment is made on a sliding scale fee and that is taken into consideration as our emergencies so it's patients since 2006 this community through unitedway has been working and collaborating to wait for this great day that we can say here it is and you guys have this to work with and just saying what you know following up on what you said with the sliding scale I was there one morning and a gentleman came in and he had his $5 payment and he was talking to the receptionist and he said my wife needed emergency dental care and I'm making the final payment on our copayment for that service and the receptionist was thanking him he says no you don't understand my children need dental care and I wouldn't feel comfortable asking for them to receive services until I paid my payment so definitely people appreciate what's being provided and are willing to pay what they can based on the resources they have available so how do these programs that Ann has been working on figure into ways that you feel you can make the plea to the community for a successful campaign well the examples you just shared you know when we both walk through that new clinic when you think of your your own family or your personal situation where you have a toothache you can't get to the dentist quick enough because if you're in pain I mean it's difficult to work it's difficult to interact with your family it's difficult to have a nice evening with your spouse I mean life is not good until you do something about that to think that there are people in this community that don't have any other resources or the means to get to get that help and so they're walking around with a toothache that ultimately becomes a full extraction in some cases I mean extreme but in some cases but to imagine people walking around in this community for days weeks months not getting the dental care that they need or getting that painful situation resolved uh Ann and some of the other folks we talked to previously talked about people who have never gone in for a checkup ever ever have gone in to have their dent of their teeth examined and you know can you imagine I mean in our in the average household that just you can't imagine that so this clinic is wonderful and the staff at united way and certainly had a strong leadership role you all did and at our health and human services department but when you hear those stories you again very quickly appreciate how fortunate we are to have people striving to accomplish these types of opportunities that help people in our community we also had a program this summer called the summer lunch program and did our summer on a very successful note and something that we will get back to again next summer but is part of our food for tomorrow initiative so can't help but mention all the volunteers that made that possible and that was a partnership again with the other initiative our volunteer center so you know when you look at the programs you talked about bridgeway working with safe harbor shabuagan county interfaith which works with bridgeway is involved in the summer lunch program it really is a family i sometimes spend more time i think lately with some of my partner agencies such as christin and other people than i do with my spouse just because it i guess it's a passion but it takes on a life of its own right and it's not it we have a conservative community i think that's fair to say where we're a conservative county as a whole but but people have generous hearts and in history is shown folks step up here and help one another and when you hear these types of stories are you aware of these situations frankly it's not difficult for me and i think the people involved with this campaign to ask people to do what they can to help and so we certainly that's that's why we're here today not only to raise awareness about what's in play but also the need for folks who are watching this program and living in this community to please do what you can to help and be part of this family and be part of the successful track record people need you and that is our message and we thank you all for being with us and anyone who wishes to donate to united way give our office a call 920-458-3425 and help these guys help this community be a better place to live work play and raise a family thank you all for coming