During the month of October, United Way of the North Shore, area food pantries, local businesses, and volunteers combined efforts to help residents in need by replenishing local food pantry shortages. As part of United Way’s Campaign Kick-Off, donated goods were distributed among the New Trier Township Food Pantry, Moraine Township Food Pantry, Hemenway Church and the Salvation Army.

The event was a huge success and collected a grand total of 2,500 pounds of food and other donated goods! The organizations were overjoyed with the donation as it means they can continue to serve families deprived of basic needs on the North Shore.

The success of the food drive is proof that when a community works together, great things can be accomplished. The United Way of the North Shore would like to personally thank Harris Bank, Coldwell-Banker, Northern Trust, Lake Bluff Public Library, Sunset Foods, National City Bank, Evanston Public Libraries, Evanston Civic Center, Bank of America, Chase Bank, Willow Hill Executive Offices and blank packaging co. for partnering with us in this work. The residents of the North Shore should be proud of their friends and neighbors who stepped up to help those in need.

Collaboration with community partners and volunteers allows United Way to continue to work toward our mission of improving lives and mobilizing the power of communities. When communities work together, we can create lasting change and continue to LIVE UNITED!

This month the United Way of the North Shore is kicking-off its annual campaign to support services that bring positive, lasting change to communities. This year’s goal is to raise $1 million locally.

Despite its reputation, the North Shore area is not immune to the current economic crisis.  Food pantries throughout the region have seen demand reach unprecedented levels.  Pockets of homelessness, especially in Evanston, are growing rapidly.  The rising unemployment, combined with a depressed real estate market is also negatively impacting many North Shore communities.

As the largest non-government funder of health and human services, United Way does what no single organization alone can do to address the key issues people face around income, education and health. However, the programs and charities funded by United Way are serving more clients with fewer resources.

“We hope that residents in each of our North Shore communities consider increasing their financial support to United Way,” said John Ropiequet, United Way of the North Shore Board of Directors President. “The time to give has never been greater. While we can’t eradicate all of the need in our area, we can certainly make a difference.”

To find out how you can help, contact the United Way of the North Shore office at (847) 999-2990, or visit our website to make an electronic pledge.

About the United Way of the North Shore
United Way of the North Shore improves the lives of people in need by mobilizing the caring and financial power of communities. Serving the communities of Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Northfield, Highland Park, Highwood, Fort Sheridan, Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, United Way of the North Shore engages local volunteers to work together to invest the time, leadership and resources needed to make long-lasting change, so that people can become independent.

Local food pantries lack resources to support growing demand of groceries

Economic hardship has affected millions of people from all walks of life, including those living in the North Shore area. Job cuts, medical bills, and the devastating housing market have led many local residents to seek assistance from food pantries. Nationally in 2008, America’s Second Harvest reported an average 15-20% increase in the number of people turning to food pantries for help compared to the prior year. During the same time, New Trier Township alone has seen a 53% increase in the number of people requesting assistance.

The United Way of the North Shore, area food pantries, local businesses and volunteers have combined efforts to help residents in need by replenishing local food pantry shortages. As part of United Way’s Campaign Kick-Off week, you can make a difference by donating goods at local drop-off sites.  Donated goods will be distributed among the New Trier Township Food Pantry, Morraine Township Food Pantry, Hemenway Church and the Salvation Army.  United Way has set a goal to collect 10,000 pounds of food.

Collection boxes, donated by Pioneer Packaging, will be placed at local banks and businesses including:

• Harris Bank in Glencoe and Highland Park
• Coldwell-Banker in Glencoe, Highland Park, Northbrook, Evanston, Wilmette and Winnetka
• Northern Trust in Lake Forest, Highland Park, Glenview and Winnetka
• Evanston Libraries
• Evanston Civic Center
• Lake Bluff Public Library
• Sunset Foods in Highland Park
• National City Bank in Highland Park
• Bank of America in Highland Park
• Chase Bank in Highland Park
• United Way of the North Shore, at the Willow Hill Executive Offices

While we can’t eradicate all of the need in our area, we can certainly make a difference. We are one community and we LIVE UNITED. The time to give has never been greater. As we launch our 2009 residential fundraising campaign in the coming weeks, we hope that residents in each of our eleven North Shore communities consider increasing their financial support to United Way. Through their generosity, we look forward to continuing our funding of health and human service agencies serving the North Shore.

For more information on how to participate, please call or e-mail United Way of the North Shore at (847) 999-2990 or uwnorthshore@uw-mc.org.

To make a donation or learn how you can become involved with the United Way in your community, please contact the United Way of the North Shore office at 847.999.2990 or visit the website at www.uwnorthshore.org.

United Way of the North Shore, the City of Evanston Mental Health Board and Evanston School Districts 202 and 65 hosted GROUP: A Community Exploration of Mental Well-being on Wednesday, September 16 at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center in Evanston. The event was a major success, with over 100 people and 22 nonprofit agencies in attendance.

Tamara Habib, Program Manager at the United Way of the North Shore, felt that the conference was necessary for Evanston when considering the current economy. “We view ourselves as a partner in the community and one of our duties as that partner is to provide opportunities for agencies to come together in an effort to share ideas and resources,” she explained.

Mental health experts addressed ways human service agencies and social workers can collaborate to best serve their clients. “In these difficult financial times, it is imperative that we begin to explore opportunities for better collaboration. We must continue to examine creative methods of meeting the needs of our community,” said Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl of Evanston, who welcomed everyone to the event.

Mayor Tisdahl was followed by Angie Lobo, Chief of Staff for State Senator Julie Hamos, who discussed the budget crisis and how representative Hamos is dedicated to finding the best solutions for everyone in the Evanston community. She encouraged non-profits in attendance to become actively involved and connected, emphasizing how important it is to establish partnerships among agencies and to initiate advocacy programs regarding funding issues. This talk preceded the keynote address from Brooke Wiseman.

Wiseman, of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, Center for Non-Profit Management, is a specialist on nonprofit management, gaining much of her knowledge and experience as CEO for the Girl Scouts of Chicago for 16 years. She spoke about community collaboration, and asked conference attendees to think about how they are working together to accomplish each of their individual organization’s missions. She challenged the audience to adopt a “network” mindset, and to use the strengths of other organizations to their advantage, as she emphasized that other, similar non-profits are not competition but simply another resource to be used in achieving success of a similar goal.

Following the keynote address, participants attended two break out sessions, each with 3 different topics to chose from. The first session included the topics “Social Disparities and Youth”, “Potential Areas for Agency Collaboration”, and “Financial Management for Agencies and Lines of Credit for Not for Profits” which was presented by First Bank & Trust (Evanston). The second breakout session included the topics “How the Recession Affects Family”, “Resources for Agencies”, and a repeat of “Financial Management for Agencies and Lines of Credit for Not for Profits”. These breakout sessions allowed participants to engage in a smaller, more intimate setting in order to foster a discussion among agencies and social workers about trends being seen in the community and how to address those through utilizing resources and collaboration.

The conference not only helped strengthen the network of providers serving the Evanston community, but also stimulated dialogue focused on creating more collaboration and synergy among non-profits and the social work community. Kate Mahoney, executive director of PEER Services Inc. in Evanston, saw the day as “an exciting opportunity to look at other organizations and see how we can be more effective in helping the entire community”. She emphasized that getting a dialogue started is important, and that the event was extremely successful in that sense.

In the afternoon, an agency fair was held in order to continue the theme of collaboration and learning. The fair included 22 Evanston non-profits and was attended by social workers, city employees, members of the community, and elected representatives from Evanston. Each participating organization presented written and oral information about the services they provide. This was a great way to end the conference, making the entire event a major success.

In the end, everyone who participated in the events of the day left the conference feeling hopeful for the future of their organization, and for the future of the community of Evanston.