On the beautiful evening of July 13, Emerging Leaders 365 and Change Makers donors gathered beachside at Marination Ma Kai, taking in stunning views of the Puget Sound while celebrating the group’s collective impact through United Way of King County.

Emerging Leaders 365 is United Way’s young professionals group who volunteer, give $365, and actively learn about issues in the community. Change Makers is United Way’s community of donors and supporters who learn about local issues and work together toward effective solutions.

The giving communities create an undeniable sense of belonging and positive energy toward making King County better, one step at a time.

Together, Change Makers and Emerging Leaders 365 donors gave over $400,000 to United Way that directly impacted our most vulnerable neighbors by:

• supporting 22,000 families to stay housed;
• providing 400,000 people with home groceries
• raising over $12,000 during events and an additional 24,000 through peer-to-peer fundraising;
• volunteering over 850 hours of service in our communities; and
• donating nearly 1,000 tangible items, such as school supplies, canned food, and socks, to our most vulnerable neighbors!

During the program, Gordon McHenry, Jr., United Way President and CEO, presented outgoing Emerging Leaders 365 committee co-chairs and last year’s Change Maker committee chair with awards recognizing their service. Taylor Roberson, marketing program manager, and Sharon Magliano Feliciano, associate director of affinity marketing, presented an appreciation award to participants who’d volunteered over a dozen hours of service and attended more than 10 networking and educational events.

Highlights of the event included performances from talented community members Maurice Roper and Matthew Guthrie. Later in the evening, three of our community members shared their talents in song and spoken word during the open mic.

As part of the evening’s theme of collective impact, meals were donated in honor of the attendees to two of our partner organizations: The Sophia Way and Friends of Youth. Attendees decorated cards that they filled with positive messages to send along with the donated food from Marination.

Guests marinated on the theme of belonging, what it means to feel welcomed into a community, and the joy of being around like-minded folks who not only want to make a difference in the community but understand that racial equity is worth working toward on various fronts.

You can learn more about Emerging Leaders 365 here and about Change Makers here.