Announcing our 2010 Campaign goal

At an energetic and rousing campaign kick-off at the Hershey Centre SportZone, United Way of Peel Region Campaign Chair Barb Leavitt announced a 2010 fundraising goal of $13.75-million.

United Way of Peel Region Campaign Chair Barb Leavitt announced a 2010 fundraising goal of $13.75-million at a rousing campaign kick-off held at the Hershey Centre SportZone on September 17.

“There’s no question that our economy continues to present challenges for many people,” said Leavitt, President of Baxter Corporation. “Yes, there are hopeful signs that improvement is on the way, but there can be a long delay between recovery in the market and recovery in the community.”

Highlights of the event included a flash mob dance choreographed by Mississauga native Blake McGrath, a choreographer and judge on CTV’s So You Think You Can Dance Canada, and remarks by Mayors Hazel McCallion of Mississauga and Marolyn Morrison of the Town of Caledon. Troy Taylor, a volunteer youth mentor and former little brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel, shared the story of the difference the organization has made in his life. He is now pursuing studies at the University of Guelph.

A special emphasis in this year’s campaign is the focus on increasing the number of Leadership gifts to United Way’s Community Fund. Leadership gifts are donations of $1,000 or more in a calendar year. Last year more than 1,100 generous donors contributed at this level.

United Way’s kick-off event was sponsored by TD Bank Financial Group. Other event supporters included Blake McGrath, Canada Dry-Motts, Casa Film Productions, Courtyard by Marriott, CueGo Audio Visual, the Hershey Centre and On the Move Catering.

There are various ways to support United Way in our community. Organizations, businesses and individuals interested in becoming involved can contact United Way at 905-602-3650 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Photos of the event can be viewed at on Flickr. Videos of the event can be viewed on YouTube.

Troy’s on the right track

“I could have been out in the streets doing anything,” says 19-year-old Troy Taylor. “Who’s to say what could have happened to me?”

At age 9 Troy felt a void in his life. His parents had separated when he was 4 and he had gone several years without having a consistent male role model. As a result he started to put less effort into his schooling and didn’t have much faith or trust in commitments by male authority figures.

To fill the void and get troy on the right track, Troy’s mom reached out to Big Brothers Big Sisters Peel, a United Way-funded agency. Initially, Troy participated in group outings and activities. He was later matched with his first big brother through the One to One friendship program when he was 10 and graduated from the program at 19.

Today, Troy is attending university and studying to be a mechanical engineer. He is a youth mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters Peel and an active volunteer in his community.

“Big Brothers Big Sisters Peel made me the person I am today,” he says. “Through the program, I learned to respect myself and others, and the values and rewards of volunteerism.”

Your donations to United Way’s Community Fund support Big Brothers Big Sisters Peel. United we can help youth reach their full potential.

Three Peel hospitals support United Way

United Way CEO, Shelley White, spoke at the tri-hospital kick-off on September 14.

In a strong show of community spirit, leaders from The Credit Valley Hospital, Trillium Health Centre and William Osler Health System launched the first-ever tri-hospital campaign for United Way of Peel Region and United Way Toronto on September 14. Together, the hospitals — which have sites across Peel Region and Toronto— set a goal of $30,000 for United Way’s Community Fund to support vital local social services, programs and initiatives. However, at a mid-campaign event on September 22 the hospitals announced they’ve already raised more than $50,000!

“As hospitals we already work together to support our patients and their care within our hospital communities,” said Michelle DiEmanuele, President and CEO of The Credit Valley Hospital. “This joint initiative to support United Way takes our partnership a step further. It is an opportunity for us to make a further difference in the community where we live and work through our personal donations. By supporting United Way, I believe we are really supporting each other.”

The campaign officially launched at Credit Valley on September 14 and concludes on October 7 at Osler’s Brampton Civic Hospital site. As part of a friendly competition, the three hospitals will vie for unique trophies and bragging rights for the most money raised, highest employee participation rate and the strongest spirit.

For their campaign, the three hospitals created the slogan, “United we can make a difference in our neighbourhoods”. The slogan will help inspire support and remind the community that United Way and the hospitals work together to improve lives.

“United Way is the largest non-governmental funder of social services in our community and last year more than 420,000 people in Peel Region received support from a service funded by United Way,” said Shelley White, CEO of United Way of Peel Region. “We are thrilled with the initiative of our local hospitals in demonstrating another facet of their care for our community.”

Social purpose enterprise gives Nigel a new purpose in life

After being diagnosed with schizophrenia more than 10 years ago, Nigel Harry, 41, began spending a lot of time alone. Even with medication, he still found it difficult to interact with others and was unable to maintain employment.

“My anxiety was so great I had a hard time doing simple things such as grocery shopping or even going through the drive-thru at Tim Hortons,” he says.

A family member referred Nigel to Peace Ranch, a United Way funded agency that provides supportive housing and rehabilitative programs for adults who have serious mental illnesses, enabling them to live and work in our community.

At Peace Ranch, Nigel works in the Market Garden which grows organic produce and sells it to residents in Caledon. Last year the Market Garden received a Social Purpose Enterprise (SPE) grant funded by United Way and the Region of Peel. A social purpose enterprise is an income-generating business created by a non-profit organization to support a social mission. United Way invests in social purpose enterprises to help provide job training and employment opportunities to individuals outside the traditional workforce.

“The Market Garden has given me a new purpose in life,” says Nigel. “It has also given me the confidence to interact socially and pursue other employment options. One day I hope to start my own business.”

“The SPE grant has been instrumental in increasing Market Garden revenue which will ultimately create more employment for our clients,” says Eric Tripp-McKay, Peace Ranch Executive Director.

To learn more about Social Purpose Enterprise grants visit www.unitedwaypeel.org.

Day of Caring registration is open

Discover the rewards of volunteerism while learning more about United Way funded agencies and services in our community. Register today for United Way’s Day of Caring, taking place on October 21, and experience a unique opportunity to spend one day volunteering at a local United Way funded agency.

Our online registration is now open and makes registering easier than ever. Choose from a variety of volunteer opportunities that best suit your skills and interests. Along with painting and yard cleanups, projects for our fall Day of Caring include pumpkin carving with newcomers and sprucing up a daycare.

Day of Caring can be an excellent team-building experience and your participation helps save agency resources by undertaking projects that otherwise may not have been completed. During United Way’s last Day of Caring volunteers gave more than 1,000 hours of their time to complete 25 different projects at 18 local United Way agencies.

Fall Day of Caring is generously sponsored by TD Canada Trust employees serving Mississauga.

To register or to learn more click here.

See Forever Plaid or Nutcracker for United Way

Here’s your chance to enjoy the arts and help support our community at the same time! Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre is offering a special promotion to benefit United Way.

When you purchase tickets to either Forever Plaid (October 22, 23 and 24) or The Nutcracker (December 4 and 5), enter the promotional code UNITED and 20 per cent of your ticket price will be donated to United Way's Community Fund.

To learn more about this great opportunity, visit www.livingartscentre.ca or call the Living Arts Centre box office at (905) 306-6000.

Announcing our 2010 Pacesetters

Many thanks to the 41 organizations and businesses that have stepped up to help set the pace for the 2010 campaign. United Way announced its 2010 Pacesetters at its annual campaign kick-off held at the Hershey Centre SportZone on September 17. Pacesetters are companies and organizations that demonstrate their commitment to United Way by pledging their support prior to the public launch of the campaign.

“It is with great pleasure that we announce our 2010 Pacesetters and thank them for taking a leadership role in jump-starting our campaign,” said 2010 Campaign Chair Barb Leavitt, President of Baxter Corporation. “The support of these companies and organizations provides a strong example of community commitment and inspires others to follow their lead.”

To view our list of Pacesetters, click here.

Young Leaders Council launches professional development series

On September 28, United Way of Peel Region’s Young Leaders Council (YLC) will launch Step Up & Learn, a six-part professional development series featuring workshops on public speaking, communications, negotiation, team building, professional image and networking.

United Way is working to prepare emerging leaders for success in their professional lives and in their roles as leaders in Peel Region. The YLC is a group of volunteers aged 20-35 who are dedicated to creating a legacy of spirited giving and volunteerism within our community.

The skills development workshops will expand and develop professional skills through targeted hands-on sessions. The monthly workshops are open to individuals aged 20 to 35 years and will be led by Michelle Manglal-Lan, a facilitator with more than 15 years of leadership experience in multiple industries in both operations and corporate environments. Individuals can register for one or all six workshops at www.unitedwaypeel.org. The deadline to register for each workshop is 12 noon on the day of the workshop.

Each workshop costs $15 and takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, One Robert Speck Parkway, Suite 1100, Mississauga. Participants will receive a participation letter for each workshop they attend and a certificate for attending the entire series. The following workshops are being offered:

1. Public Speaking –September 28, 2010

2. Communications – October 20, 2010

3. Negotiation/Influencing Skills – November 17, 2010

4. Team Building – January 19, 2011

5. Professional Image – February 16, 2011

6. Networking – March 15, 2011

How much can you afford to give?

Reprinted with permission from Ted Rechtshaffen

One question that occasionally comes from clients is the following:

“I give $2,500 a year to charity. Can I afford to give this? What if I gave $5,000 a year, would that be something I can budget? Is there a smarter way to give?”

These are reasonable questions, but how do you answer them?

Here is the answer you’re most likely to get from an investment adviser:

“If you are feeling comfortable from a cash-flow perspective, you can probably afford what you are giving. You might be able to do more, but I wouldn’t do too much at this stage.”

The reason for this general and fairly vague answer is simple: The adviser has no way of knowing and, in general, would rather clients kept more money invested and gave less away.

There is a better answer.

I believe that if Canadians had a better handle on what they could afford to donate, in many cases they would be comfortable giving more. To help with this, TriDelta has put together an online tool called the Donation Planner, which answers the basic question: “How much could I afford to give?”

In many cases, the number will surprise you.

Charities that want to answer this question for their donors can brand the donation planner and put it on their website.

Why is this whole question and discussion important?

In many cases, Canadians give less than they want to because they do not include charitable giving as part of their financial-planning discussions. They often don’t understand the true tax implications of giving while they are living. To support the point, we only need to look at how Canadians give versus Americans.

In Canada, we donate much less than Americans. A Fraser Institute study called “Generosity in Canada and the United States,” based on the 2007 tax year, shows that in the state of New York, 30.3 per cent of tax filers made a donation, and donations represented 1.85 per cent of their taxable income. Across the border in Ontario, 25.7 per cent made a donation, but it represented just 0.84 per cent of our taxable income. In Ontario, we are giving 45 per cent as much as those in New York.

Given the relative prosperity of Canadians these days, we should be able to see greater support for our vital charities than our neighbours to the south. There are some cultural and tax reasons behind the differences in giving, but one of them is simply that many of us don’t really know how much we could afford to give.

Now is as good a time as any to start to include this in your family discussions or in those with a financial planner.

Ted Rechtshaffen is president and CEO of TriDelta Financial Partners, a firm that provides independent financial planning advice. He was vice-president of business strategy at a major Canadian brokerage firm and found that the interests of the client were often not aligned with the interests of the adviser or the interests of the company.

When he was employed as a chef, Tong Mai worked many long hours. But after retiring 10 years ago, he found himself sitting in front of the television all day. His wife, Irene, kept busy doing housework.

Tong grew restless and Irene longed for more, so they contacted Carefirst Seniors and Community Services Association, a United Way funded agency that provides programs and services to support, educate and enhance the lives of seniors in our community. Since connecting with Carefirst, the couple, who have been married more than 50 years, are having the time of their lives. Tong, 82, and Irene, 75, participate in Tai Chi, English classes, Karaoke, and computer training. They have expanded their social network and enjoy social outings and events, while living an independent, healthy and active lifestyle.

September 28:
Step Up and Learn - Public Speaking workshop

October 20:
Step Up and Learn - Communications workshop

October 21:
Day of Caring

November 17
Step Up and Learn - Negotiations/ Influencing workshop

Posters:
Download 11x17 or 8.5x11 posters featuring the stories showcased in the 2009 Annual Report. Click here!