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In This Issue... Commission Junction Delivers the Fun
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Inogen, Inc has just finished their 2007 United Way employee campaign. This year Inogen’s employees raised $6,506 (up $1,842 from last year) to help fund local community programs. The theme for the campaign was “Inogen Cares,” emphasizing the organization’s Community Responsibility & Giving Campaign. The company held a scavenger hunt for the employees to kick off the campaign this year. The employees were divided into randomly assigned teams and given an extensive list for the hunt. Each team came up with a team name and created costumes for the event. The teams hit the streets at the neighboring shopping centers to gather items on the checklist or take digital photos performing required activities to earn as many points as possible. Some of the items that earned points were signatures of strangers who had given to charity recently, team photos that resembled a United Way logo, and a newspaper article about a charity or volunteer. After the scavenger hunt, the employees gathered for food and drinks in the main hallway at Inogen’s headquarters in Goleta. While the Campaign Managers, Debbie Horne and Courtney Barry, tabulated the results, some teams practiced for the next part of the competition. The teams were encouraged to perform little skits about giving to charity before the scavenger hunt winners were announced. The skits included songs about the campaign, songs about Inogen products, and, of course, songs about the other teams. The entire staff really enjoyed the competition and the event raised awareness about the campaign. Inogen, a company that grew out of a UCSB business plan competition in 2001, has shown a commitment to the community as the company has continued to grow. Thanks to Courtney, Debbie, Kathy Odell (CEO) and all of the other employees that made this campaign possible!
Vista del Monte leaned on a familiar March holiday for this year’s campaign theme: “Brighten the Future of Santa Barbara: Give to our Pot o’ Gold.” St. Patrick’s Day-themed posters and goodies brightened every corner of Vista del Monte during this month’s campaign. The campaign really did fill the “pot o’ gold” for community programs, raising 50% more than last year and 272% more than 2004-05. Executive Director Laurie Yttri announced the campaign with a letter sent to all employees with their paychecks. Laurie is a member of United Way’s Executive Club and a proud supporter of the campaign. The Directors also held a special management presentation the week before the campaign to encourage top-level support. The campaign officially kicked off with a donuts and fruit morning. For the next two weeks, Campaign Managers Kelly Hughes and Nancy Kaufmann held fun presentations with a “Wheel of Prizes.” Everyone who attended received a “bag of gold” (chocolate coins) and a raffle ticket to spin the wheel and win prizes from Starbucks, Panda Express, Blenders, and more. Vista del Monte set a goal of $5,000 for the campaign, a 14% increase from the previous year. Employees stepped up and pledged their support to push the campaign well past its goal. Residents also contributed for the first time to bump the total to $6,478. Is it just the luck o’ the Irish? No, it’s employees caring for the community!
Commission Junction (CJ) runs a successful United Way campaign every year, but this campaign hit a new level of fun and excitement. CJ ties the annual drive to their periodic “Junction Functions”, a fun time for employees to share food, drinks, and awards. This year’s campaign fell near St. Patrick’s Day and was sponsored by the Key Accounts department. Keely Hart from HR and Diana Yoon from Key Accounts brought United Way and the Junction Function together. The festivities started the week of the Junction Function with a shamrock raffle and competition. Employees bought shamrocks for $1 each (no limit) to win fun prizes from local businesses. Every shamrock also contributed to the department’s shamrocks, posted in a prominent place. The department with the most shamrocks received a happy hour at Dargan’s. Employee Carlos Hurtado announced that he would match every shamrock purchased. With his match, the raffle raised $2,600. The Junction Function was over-the-top Irish fun. Guinness and Irish food added to the excitement, with green beads and leprechaun-style top hats bobbing amongst the crowd. Dan Sweeney from Key Accounts MC’ed and Chris Schwass from United Way drew the winning tickets for the shamrock raffle (out of a Lucky Charms box, no less). Then Schwass shared about United Way’s impact on local children, families, and seniors. Sweeney then reminded employees that the bigger raffle included anyone who pledged. Hart and Yoon collected pledges over the next week and raised over $11,000 total. On March 30, Yoon raffled off major prizes including hotel stays, baseball tickets, a 4-bedroom Tahoe stay for a week, and much more. The campaign increased 25% thanks to the efforts of Yoon, Hart, the Key Accounts team, and the caring staff of Commission Junction.
RSVP for any United Way activity at http://www.unitedwaysb.org/calendarevents.html
Annual Awards
Fun in the Sun
Day of Caring
30 minute Kick off breakfast begins at Page
Youth Center
Red Feather Ball
Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort
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