2011 Spirit of Caring Award winners!
Spirit of Puget Sound Award
For outstanding performance in every aspect of company campaigns and an ongoing commitment to community involvement
Global powerhouse AT&T leads the way in doing more for our community. For the last three years, the company has provided free long-distance phone calls for people experiencing homelessness at the Community Resource Exchange. In addition, nearly 200 AT&T employees volunteered at the last Day of Caring.
Their western region president, Fred Devereux, serves on United Way’s board—and several other AT&T staff members serve on other United Way committees.
When it comes to consistently stepping up to sponsor United Way of King County events, AT&T is at the top of the list—sponsoring the Breakfast, Day of Caring and the Spirit of Caring Celebration.
Congratulations to AT&T for taking home the Spirit of Puget Sound Award—the highest achievement for corporate philanthropy in all of King County.
Volunteer of the Year Award
For a United Way of King County volunteer who has shown a level of commitment to the mission and priorities of United Way that exceeds expectations and whose work has had a significant impact on advancing United Way’s mission
Evelyn Lemoine
Evelyn Lemoine personifies the concept of doing more for the community. She has been a dedicated United Way volunteer, donor and advocate for many years.
In 1994, Evelyn volunteered to serve as one of United Way’s inaugural impact council chairs. She led the Children Youth & Families Impact Council and then the Early Learning Impact Council for four years and she remains an active member to this day.
Evelyn is a passionate advocate for young children, is not shy about speaking her mind and challenges us all to be our best.
Thank you, Evelyn, for 16 years of leadership and service!
Ambassador of the Year Award
For an individual who has demonstrated exceptional dedication as an advocate for United Way of King County
Sandra Madrid, Ph.D.
Two words best sum up the essence of Sandra Madrid—"positive energy."
Over the last 15 years, she has demonstrated her commitment to United Way of King County's mission—and has done everything from chairing United Way's board to leading the Volunteer Task Force.
She regularly represents United Way of King County at campaign kickoffs, and last fall played a major role in a fundraising event within the legal community that raised $100,000!
Outstanding Volunteer Program Award
For a company that has a strong commitment to volunteerism and that encourages employees to make a difference through volunteering
Weyerhaeuser’s special volunteer program, Making WAVES, supports the charitable work of employees. To participate, employees identify a need in their community and work with a nonprofit or school to develop a project. Weyerhaeuser provides volunteer training and grant opportunities.
In 2010, just over 1,000 Weyerhaeuser employees and retirees completed 89 projects and contributed 14,000 volunteer hours through Making WAVES. And Weyerhaeuser has made more than $3.9 million dollars in grants since the program began in 1998.
Thank you, Weyerhaeuser, for strongly supporting volunteerism!
Chairman's Award
For overall campaign excellence
At this year’s Spirit of Caring Celebration, two companies took home the Chairman’s Award.
UPS was honored for an amazing accomplishment. Over the past year, the company reached a milestone of $1 billion in gifts to United Ways nationwide.
Our local division of UPS consistently runs a top-notch campaign. They have strong campaign coordinators, and their president, Nancy Koeper, gets really involved. This year she held a special event to encourage giving at the Alexis de Tocqueville Society level of $10,000 and above.
Additionally, UPS is a frequent United Way event sponsor—including this year's Spirit of Caring Celebration.
Virginia Mason Medical Center has an amazing campaign coordinator—Judy Ruskell—who keeps her company actively informed and involved with United Way year-round.
Virginia Mason nurses have provided free flu shots to people experiencing homelessness at the Community Resource Exchange.
They donate tickets to Mariners and Sounders games that we use as prizes. They also sponsor events like the Climb for the Community—and are the only hospital on United Way’s top 25 donor list.
Congratulations UPS and Virginia Mason—and thank you for doing more for our community.
Most Significant Increase Award
For exceptional campaign growth
This year, two companies took home the award for most significant increase.
At Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, the campaign coordinators came up with thoughtful and engaging events for the campaign—and they made personal asks.
In the end, they increased giving by 30 percent—and nearly 75 percent of all dollars raised went directly to United Way of King County!
At Expeditors International of Washington, Inc, senior management offered to match employee gifts to encourage giving. And Annie Erickson, their campaign coordinator, enlisted the support of CEO Peter Rose to host a happy hour for everyone who participated. As a result, their campaign jumped by 40 percent over last year!
Great work, Davis Wright Tremaine and Expeditors!
Microsoft Leadership Giving Award
For workplaces that successfully promote giving at the $1,000 level and above
The Microsoft Leadership Giving Award—named to honor of Microsoft’s remarkable record of philanthropy—honors companies with a high number of donors who give $1,000 dollars and above.
Giving at this level during tough economic timescan be a stretch. But employees at the two winning companies made it a top priority.
Accenture's management really focused on Leadership Giving this year—and garnered impressive results. Overall giving was up by 44 percent—and Leadership-Level donors accounted for over 56 percent of the total giving.
Enterprise management gets very involved in their United Way campaign. They host an annual "thank you" event at the Space Needle for all Leadership-Level donors. It's something everyone looks forward to, and Enterprise's results show how effective it is: 31 percent of Enterprise employees are Leadership donors.
Congratulations, Accenture and Enterprise! Thank you for being strong leaders in our community!
The Boeing Company Sustaining Supporter Award
For a demonstrated pattern of giving at a consistent level for the past five years
This year, we recognized three companies sustaining successful campaigns over many years. They share an award that is now named in honor of The Boeing Company and its employees, whose unflagging generosity over decades is peerless.
Bank of America employees have sustained high levels of giving—and Bank of America has made a corporate gift of at least $200,000 dollars for the last 10 years!
Highline Public Schools' employees have steadily increased their giving over the last five years despite a difficult budget climate.
Perkins Coie LLP has had an incredibly consistent participation rate over the last five years and the amount employees give continues to rise each year.
Thank you Bank of America, Highline School District and Perkins Coie LLP for your sustained support!
Best New Campaign Award
For outstanding first-year campaigns
With all that our community is experiencing, enlisting new United Way supporters is more critical than ever. This year, Wunderman stood out for its first-year campaign for an array of reasons.
They assembled a solid campaign team andeld lunch discussions to learn about the issues in our community and what’s being done. They organized a Day of Caring project to wrap up the campaign, and after the campaign was over, made blankets for homeless youth, ran a food drive and held a toy drive for United Way’s Parent-Child Home Program.
Thank you, Wunderman, for your incredible energy and enthusiasm!
Campaign Coordinator of the Year Award
For outstanding individual employees who coordinate a workplace campaign
Being a campaign coordinator can be a lot of work—but it can also be a lot of fun and extremely rewarding.
This year we recognized four standouts—Jessica Beltran, Doug Lotz, Michael Lowe and Catherine Martin.
Here are some of the ways these four superstars went above and beyond to ensure their campaign’s success.
They made the ask—no matter what! Jessie Beltran and her campaign team drove to all of Sellen’s local construction sites with laptops so that everyone in the field could pledge online.
They developed a solid plan and set goals. Holland America has a two-month long campaign and Doug Lotz made sure to have a plan for every activity along the way.
They lined up top-level management support for the campaign. Mike Lowe at Kenworth involved management in every part of the campaign. He worked with them on budgets, planning and made sure Kenworth leadership spoke at events.
They recruited a strong campaign committee team. Catherine Martin developed a "Care Force" team of leaders from each U.S. Bank location. She trained them on campaign basics and offered her support to Care Force team members throughout the campaign.
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