of Saginaw County

Community Impact

United Wayof Saginaw County

Youth Service Days

Volunteer START

Project Independence

Imagination Library

AmeriCorpsHoliday Wish List

Project HOME

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

Best Practices Nonprofit Institute

Your gift remains the most effective and efficient way to help strengthen the entire community.

When you make a donation to United Way, your money stays in our community to make CHANGE happen.

You make CHANGE happen by funding the building blocks for a self sufficient life. Instead of focusing on one single issue, United Way of Saginaw County

supports 32 programs at 19 partnering agencies throughout

our community.

Partner Agencies

American Red Cross Great Lakes Bay Chapter

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Great Lakes Bay Region

CAN Council Great Lakes Bay Region

Catholic Family Service

Child & Family Services

First Ward Community Center

Food Bank of Eastern Michigan

Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan

Good Neighbors Mission

Hidden Harvest

Lake Huron Area Council Boy Scouts of America

Neighborhood House

READ Association

Salvation Army

Special Needs Vision Clinic

SVRC Industries, Inc.

Underground Railroad

YMCA of Saginaw

Youth Protection Council

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of Saginaw County

United Way of Saginaw County 100 S. Jefferson Ave., 3rd Floor - Saginaw, MI 48607

Phone: (989) 755-0505 Fax: (989) 755-2158

Website: www.UnitedWaySaginaw.org Volunteer: www.GOvolunteerNOW.org Information and referral: Dial 2-1-1

Thank you for giving to United Way of Saginaw County. You are LIVING

UNITED and helping make change happen.

of Saginaw County

Making a CHANGE from early on - Chantelle Marie Fondren was first introduced to United Way as a teenager. While attending Chesaning High School, Chantelle became involved with the Holiday Wish List program as well as Youth Service Days. She was also a part of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Leadership Institute which is where she deepened her understanding of how she could serve the community. “Each program was truly an eye opening experience and inspired me so much. I brought the idea of Make a Difference Day to my home town, where with the help of local officials, I organized a community clean-up day in which 70 of my fellow classmates volunteered to clean up eleven different sites in the community,” said Chantelle. Her community involvement did not stop there. Chantelle chose to stay in Saginaw County and attend Saginaw Valley State University and continues to give back while attending college. “I try to volunteer at least once a month in the community. In addition to being a college student, I am also a team captain on my SVSU Cross Country team. Along with the athletic department, I encourage my teammates to go above and beyond to become more involved with volunteer efforts. Through working with United Way, I hope to continue to be an active, giving citizen in my community. I enjoy all the programs that I have been involved with and hope to continue to inspire and encourage more community members to become involved, especially the youth and students of our community. My overall life goal is to be able to someday give back to my Saginaw Community that has given me so much,” added Chantelle.

Working together to make CHANGE happen - Joe and Dr. Kristan Outwater Madison’s passion has always been the health and well-being of children and youth. When they moved to Saginaw years ago, they became involved with various community agencies, many of which are United Way partner agencies. “When the United Way and Saginaw Community Foundation brought Colin Powell to town to promote America’s and Saginaw County’s Promise, it was the first time that they had witnessed all of Saginaw County coming together. It was an extraordinary event and we saw the potential of collaboration on behalf of the children and youth,” said Joe. It was after that event that Youth Service Days were created and Joe has had the privilege to serve as one of the coordinators of this effort ever since. “In May we celebrated our 10th year of giving back. Over the years we have connected some 3,000 youth to serve and work together to make a difference at more than 140 locations in our community,” added Joe. Kristan has been right there with Joe from the beginning, serving as a team leader and gardener despite her busy schedule. “It is always special to see the look on a student’s face when they recognize that their pediatrician is out pulling weeds or painting a wall along side of them,” said Kristan. The Youth Service Days are only one of the many, very special ways that the Madison’s have been connected with the community. “There are so many great social entrepreneurs doing great community work on behalf of our children in this community, especially at the United Way partner agencies. Kris and I both feel that everyone has something to give... time, talent and/or treasure and everyone is needed to transform this community into being what we all dream it can be for our families,” said Joe.

Our community becomes brighter when we create CHANGE - As a member-owned cooperative, Wanigas Credit Union is committed to forging a stronger community. The employees get involved in many different ways; volunteering, mentoring and fundraising. The Wanigas group is actively involved with the United Way of Saginaw County annual fundraising campaign. “Working

together, we contact the financial institutions in our community during campaign season to thank them for their past investment in the community and request that they

have an employee campaign at their workplace,” said Teresa Santana, director of marketing at Wanigas Credit Union. “Our employees give, advocate and volunteer with

United Way for many different reasons and no matter what that personal reason is, Wanigas is an organization of people and it is important to each staff person that we live the philosophy of people helping people. Our support of United Way is a commitment to sustaining a stronger community, which is at the core of the credit union difference. Wanigas Credit Union is proud to be among the people and organizations in Saginaw County that LIVE UNITED to help our community shine,” added Teresa.

CHANGE starts with us - Keith and Kristen Wenzel are both strong Saginaw County advocates who passionately believe in giving back. “Getting involved is our way of investing in the health of our region,” said Keith. This dynamic couple definitely knows what it means to LIVE UNITED. With a number of organizations that they are a strong part of, both Keith and Kristen look for opportunities to provide meaningful impact. Together they give, volunteer and advocate for the positives in our community. When asked why they were personally involved in all of these community activities instead of just letting ‘someone else’ do it, Kristen responded, “We are that someone else!” Keith and Kristen added, “We are inspired by what investing a little time and energy can do to improve the quality of life in our community. By adding up a few hours and a few dollars from everyone, a positive impact is easier to achieve.”

We are proud of the success stories we create together. CHANGE starts with you!

Together, UNITED, we can inspire hope and create CHANGE in our Saginaw County community.