Community Service - United Way of Bay County

Community Service

National Association of Letter Carriers 15th Annual Food Drive
The 16th annual National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive will be held on Saturday May 10, 2008. Last year in Bay County we collected over 45,000 pounds of non-perishable food that was distributed to our local food pantries.

Help for Tough Times
We have developed this resource manual to assist people who are facing unemployment, shutoffs, evictions, etc. The manual contains a lot of information regarding some of the services available in our community.

Please review the Help for Tough Times manual and if you have any questions regarding services or assistance criteria, etc. contact Steve Rajewski at United Way of Bay County or call 989.893.7508.

2007 Holiday Food Basket Program

Community Service Volunteers helping pack food baskets.
Our annual Thanksgiving and Christmas food basket program was able to provide holiday food baskets to over 125 families last year. Clients are screened through other networks for duplication and all information is verified through those sources. Contact Steve at 893.7508 ext. 12 or steve@unitedwaybaycounty.org for more information.

Activities / Awards

2008 Ambrose E. Angel Reif Community Service Award

Keri Laczko
2008 "Angel" Community Services Award

Keri is a very active community services volunteer, has served as a past United Way Loaned Executive for two years and is a United Way Board member. She also serves as a member of the Volunteer Resource Committee and the Communications committee for United Way.

She also volunteers with the American Red Cross, the March of Dimes, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Toys for Tots , Paint and Pride to name a few.

Her dedication to her family and to her community was recognized at the 2008 Community Services Graduation with the presentation of the Ambrose E. “Angel” Reif Community Service Award to recognize the tremendous work that she does as a union volunteer in our community.

2008 Friend of Labor Award

State Representative Jeff Mayes was presented with the 2008 AFL-CIO Friend of Labor Award at the annual Community Services Graduation for his support of issues which affect the working people of our state. Former Bay City Mayor Mike Buda accepted the award on behalf of Representative Mayes who was in Lansing working on an Energy Bill.

Labor Management Award

Pictured are Dwight McCulloch, Past President of USW 5187 and Patty Henika, representing RWC Inc. with the Labor Management Awards recognizing the outstanding community services work they have done together for our community. In addition to supporting United Way they have worked on joint food drives for holiday food baskets, volunteered as community services activists to provide assistance to co workers and last year, together, they provided a significant donation to the United Way First Call for Help program to assist needy families in emergency situations.

AFL-CIO Convention
The 26th Michigan State AFL-CIO Convention will be held on Monday and Tuesday , March 14th and 15th , and representatives of 24 Central Labor Councils from around the State will again vote on a resolution reaffirming the 50 year partnership with United Way. The resolution commits the Michigan State AFL-CIO, Local Central Labor Councils and local unions throughout the state to support the Community Services Program and its partnership with local United Ways.

Information & Referral Training

United Way of Bay County professional staff also offers technical assistance and consultation to unions, social service agencies and others on labor related matters.

The Bay County AFL-CIO Community Service Committee volunteers work hard to help people in Bay County.

Basic Community Services Training

Mike Hanisko, United Way Board President congratulates Nina VanSumeran on completing the 2008 Community training program

The objective of the AFL-CIO Community Services program is to train union members and others in the community to become Information and Referral Specialists. The training is done in modules of two hours per week for eight weeks. During this training, the volunteer learns about the programs and services available in the community.

Graduates of the programs are able to return to their respective places of work with the knowledge and ability to provide effective information and referral services to their co-workers and others in the community.

The 2008 Basic Community Services Counseling Program will begin on January 15, 2008. For an agenda, registration or more information, please contact Steve Rajewski at 989.893.7508.