Chicago Bears defensive tackle Israel Idonije visited United Way African American Initiative partner Team Englewood on December 18, 2007 to share the spirit of the holidays with families who receive services from the agency. Eighty families were invited to a local church for the event, where Israel tirelessly handed out $100 Target gift cards, Gatorade towels/bottles and holiday snacks to over one hundred families.

United Way is grateful to Israel, the Israel Idonije Foundation, The Chicago Bears’ Bears Cares, and everyone who made the holidays special for the 100 families present.

Bears Coach Lovie Smith serves on the African American Initiative Senior Advisory Committee. For more information about the initiative, please visit here.

Having many teachers is beneficial. Having those teachers be business professionals in career paths you would like to follow is amazing.

More than 25 participants in the YMCA job training program spent the day with six professionals from Deloitte & Touche LLP USA who volunteered the morning of December 7, 2007 to help them practice their skills to gain employment.

Organized and hosted by United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, the program was a Day of Caring for Deloitte employees to give back to their community. The Deloitte volunteers brought breakfast for their “students,” hosted mock interviews to help participants gain confidence during the interview process, gave resume tips and facilitated a question-and-answer session led by a Deloitte employee who had previously worked in Human Resources.

“Because we have contacts at both Deloitte and the agencies we fund, United Way was proud to be able to connect the groups to bring new ideas and skills to YMCA clients,” said Brian Williams, United Way fundraising manager. “The Deloitte employees were able to share their skills with these clients who are looking to get into the job market. We are so grateful to Deloitte for giving back to the community both through volunteering and their employee campaign.”

In addition to its stellar record of volunteerism, Deloitte holds the #12 spot on the United Way list of Top 25 Corporate Citizens, as well as least year’s #2 in amount of Tocqueville Society giving.

Deloitte employees who took part in the Day of Caring included: Scott Skowronski (who led the workshop), Jason Calvario, Rebecca Bogie, Beth Memolo and Art Wong.

This month, 1,591 Target Stores will donate more than 4,500 decorated holiday trees to 1,300 local United Ways nationwide who will deliver the trees to families in need as well as to partners such as shelters and community centers who care for children.

United Way of Metropolitan Chicago worked with Target to arrange for the delivery of 80 trees to brighten people’s holidays. One partner they worked with was Alisha Medina, Member Relations Director for the Rauner Family YMCA, who received three trees through the Target Share-a-Tree Program. The trees allowed her to promote quality family time at the YMCA for low-income working parents and their children. “When we received our trees, we set up a crafts table by them, and families could come in and create ornaments together,” Medina said. “It was very interactive, and it gave us an opportunity to give parents who can get so busy working and then handling things at home a moment to sit down with their children to do something special during the holidays.”

This is the 17th consecutive year Target has donated artificial holiday trees to local community partners and families in need. In past years, United Way volunteers have delivered Target’s trees to various nonprofit agencies and families including women’s shelters and those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In addition to the trees, Target gave nearly $12 million to communities across the country through United Way in 2006 alone.

Want to read more about the Target-sponsored tree donation program? Click here to download the full press release (.doc, 148 KB).

United Way’s Young Leaders Society (YLS) kicked off the season by collecting more than 70 toys and $900 for two United-Way funded programs at its holiday event. The event was sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP and hosted by YLS at the beautiful W Chicago Lakeshore on December 11.

All YLS events are issue-focused. This year’s YLS focus is on Educational Achievement. Representatives from United Way partner agencies, Ada S. McKinley Community Services and the Young Men’s Educational Network (YMEN), spoke about the specific issues affecting education achievement, their work, and the importance of volunteering and philanthropy.

The toys have been donated to Ada S. McKinley Foster Care Services Program for children who have been removed from their families because of abuse and/or neglect. YMEN, a member of United Way’s African American Initiative (the grassroots community initiative from United Way that targets young, African American males and helps them make a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood), received $900, which will go toward a special trip for the young men who participate in the program.