United Way campus campaign shoots for record year

by Joy Poliquin

Sperling

This year's United Way campus campaign kicks off this month as the university continues its tradition of supporting United Way initiatives to aid Victoria citizens in need. Last year was a great success, with UVic raising over $177,000 for the cause.

"Our campaign goal this year is $200,000," says Dr. Rebecca Grant, campaign chair and associate professor in the faculty of business. "It'll be a challenge but I think it's realistic. Each person who gives helps raise the bar even further."

The United Way of Greater Victoria provides funding for community agencies that focus on one of five social issues: poverty; isolation and loneliness; family stress and breakdown; violence in society; and substance abuse. These agencies range from AIDS Vancouver Island to the YM/YWCA of Greater Victoria. With one in three Victorians relying on United Way-funded services each year, the need for donations is acute.

UVic's campus campaign features payroll deductions, e-mail bingo, the fountain barbeque, the November book sale, the Bug Push and casual Fridays. Each dollar raised makes a difference, but it takes a lot of people to make the campaign a success.

These people include "leadership donors" who donate more than $500 a year, and those who donate part of each paycheck towards the United Way. Last year, 18.4 per cent of employees participated in the payroll deduction program, and this year organizers hope to bump this number up to 20 per cent.

Fyles

Chemistry professor and leadership donor Dr. Tom Fyles began contributing to the United Way the first year he became an assistant professor at the university. "My parents and grandparents regard giving as a regular part of everyday expenses," he says. "The United Way provides a whole range of services locally and I'm happy to support their efforts. It's an effective way to approach the whole range of needs in the local community."

Fyles sees donating as a way to initiate change, one person at a time. "I don't think my donation is likely to have an individual impact any more than my vote will elect or defeat a government," he says. "But collective actions do have impact. It just feels like the right thing to do."

Co-op education co-ordinator Claudia Sperling knows she did the right thing when she became a loaned representative for United Way for four months in 2002. Paid by the university to donate her services to United Way, Sperling visited Victoria businesses to help set up employee donation campaigns, and had a chance to meet with agencies who receive funding.

"To be involved in something like this showed me how many generous people there are in our community and how many people really need our help," she says. "I came back to UVic and have been volunteering with the university's United Way committee ever since."

Sperling hopes that more people will consider payroll deduction this year and says that if every employee gave as little as $5 per paycheck, the benefit to the community would be huge. "Everybody's strapped for cash," she says, "but a little bit from everyone really goes a long way."

Christine Morgan has seen the benefits of United Way from both sides. As a young mother, the UVic student participated in the Yoga Moms Program through the Victoria YMCA. The program, which was partially funded by the United Way, provided free yoga classes, daycare and a healthy snack to young mothers in the Victoria community.

"It was a way to introduce a community-driven activity to mothers who thought they were the only ones going through a tough time," says Morgan. "But it was more than that—it trickled down to help raise their self-esteem, to help them make connections and to provide a community for those who didn't have one."

Morgan was so impressed with the program that she started to assist, eventually becoming trained to mentor other young mothers. This volunteer job eventually led to a role as president of the board of directors of the Young Parents Support Network, and as facilitator of the YM/YWCA Young Moms Program.
Today, she's entering third year and eager to apply to the school of social work to continue making a difference. "The United Way funds essential initiatives to help break cycles of poverty," she says. "It's a very important cause."

For more information on the 2004 United Way campus campaign visit unitedway.uvic.ca.