News & Events
United Way of Northeast Florida Sets Community Goal in Excess of $26 Million
United Way of Northeast Florida kicked off the 2007 community campaign today at the Prime Osborn Convention Center. With more than 700 guests in attendance 2007 Campaign Chair Ron Autrey, president of Miller Electric, announced the campaign goal of $26,102,672 that will allow United Way to increase its impact in improving lives of First Coast children and families.“I am very proud of what this city and our region has accomplished in helping those in need, especially through United Way,” Autrey stated. “Achieving our goal is critical to ensure that dollars are invested to resolve critical issues facing First Coast families and children.”
Full Service Schools 15th Anniversary
United Way volunteers and guests also celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Full Service Schools collaboration in Jacksonville, acknowledging many longstanding partners and the expansion of the initiative. Full Service Schools of Jacksonville seeks to provide programs that remove barriers to a child’s academic success.Weavers' Gift
In addition, special recognition was given to Jacksonville Jaguars co-owners J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver for their recent gift of $1.6 million to the Full Service Schools initiative.The Weavers’ generosity will allow for the expansion of Full Service Schools to the Sandalwood neighborhood and for the enhanced operations of Full Service Schools in the Springfield neighborhood. Their contribution will completely fund operations for three years at the Sandalwood site and provide 60% of funding for the fourth year. The establishment of the Sandalwood center brings the total number of Full Service School sites in Jacksonville to eight, serving 59,602 students and families.
Impact Strategies
United Way recently announced two strategies that aim at reducing the dropout rate, increasing the graduation rate, and preparing preschoolers for kindergarten on the First Coast. Barbara Drake, United Way’s Board of Directors chair, shared a video presentation highlighting the components for each strategy and announced the community and agency partners for each initiative.One strategy, Success By 6, was developed to increase access to quality early learning and help parents prepare their children for school. Research shows that, while quality childcare can be very expensive, it is critical in helping children develop fundamental skills. As a result of this initiative, United Way will provide early education grants that will enable children to attend learning centers with a five-star QRS rating and be better prepared for kindergarten.
The second initiative, Achievers For Life, will focus on middle school students, helping them transition to high school and to graduate on time. Research shows that the dropout rate for Duval County is twice the average for the State of Florida. Studies also show that only two-thirds of Duval County ninth graders graduate on time. Middle school is the starting point where dropping out begins.
United Way’s Achievers for Life will address this critical issue through four main components: Family Advocates, Student counseling, Achievement Advocates, and research-based parent engagement activities.
Rock Stars From PreSchool to High School
In keeping with the luncheon theme, “Rockin’ the Community”, preschool children and middle school students from United Way-supported programs performed an upbeat rendition of “We Are Family”.Other performances featured today included the Terry Parker High School Band members, a dance group from A Social Affair Dance Studio, and classic rock and roll hits from the band Gypsy Highway.
Later in the program Autrey announced the goal for the 2007 Community Campaign as $26,102,672. He emphasized that the fundraising campaign he is leading is a critical strategy to help achieve community impact – getting the best results and changing the most lives.
“That’s a big number,” Autrey said. “But that’s the amount we will need to improve the lives of our community’s children, seniors, and families. Every gift is critical. Every gift no matter the size is combined with others to increase United Way’s impact in building a stronger, healthier community. By reaching this goal we’re helping create change on a scale that no single organization alone can achieve.”
Pacesetters Lead the Way
While today officially kicks off the beginning of the Community Campaign, many businesses and organizations held their campaigns early as a catalyst to jumpstart the Community Campaign. The dollars raised from participating Pacesetter organizations totaled more than $5.2 million, a 14.3 percent increase over 2006. The results of the pacesetter campaigns were announced at the kickoff.“With the results of the successful Pacesetter campaign, I know that other companies, organizations and individuals will continue to help us reach our 2007 campaign goal,” Autrey said.
“The enormous success of our Pacesetter campaign is a testimonial to the willingness and generosity of our community to help improve the lives of our region’s children, seniors, and families,” Connie Hodges, president of United Way of Northeast Florida said.
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