Campaign Chair Letter

A message from our 2012-2013 LIVE UNITED Campaign Chair

Restore HOPE with Your Actions. LIVE UNITED.

We live in a beautiful community known for great prosperity, but there is an Orange County many of us have never seen. It’s the Orange County where our coworkers, neighbors, and friends not only struggle to make ends meet but cannot meet their most basic human needs of putting food on the table, having a home to call their own, or taking care of basic medical concerns. It’s the Orange County where more than 300,000 people are living in poverty and one in six residents are uninsured; where an estimated 400,000 people are at risk of hunger during the year, and more than 18,000 people experience homelessness over the course of a year. What’s more, the economic environment has changed the face of poverty, placing many people—people like you and me—in a position they never expected: needing a hand UP so they can get back on a path to self-sufficiency.

This is the Orange County that we’re all working to strengthen by supporting the Community Impact Fund of Orange County United Way. TOGETHER, we are restoring hope with our actions and creating lasting, positive change in OUR community. Because of your support and commitment to LIVING UNITED, Orange County United Way can continue to provide hope, help, and a pathway to a better future to assist people in OUR community with getting back on their feet and on a path to a brighter future.

Lives are being improved, and it’s all because of the power of Collective Impact.

Because I believe so much in the work that Orange County United Way is doing, I decided to extend my Campaign Chairmanship for a second year. During my volunteer tenure last year, I realized how critical making a long-term commitment is to the movement—the LIVE UNITED movement—to strengthen our community. I am proud to lead the workplace movement for 2012-13 to continue to do my part to change lives and make a difference in Orange County.  And you can too: by GIVING what you can, ADVOCATING by championing our cause, and VOLUNTEERING to share your time and talent, we can improve even more lives. Let’s outdo ourselves for our neighbors in need and help a student graduate from high school and go to college, offer a single mother the job training needed to support her family and gain financial independence, or provide a senior with food and access to critical medication. Let’s invest in change and help people help themselves by giving them access to the Building Blocks for a self-sufficient life: Education, Income, and Health.

TOGETHER, we can create an Orange County where every neighborhood from northern Brea to the heart of Santa Ana, to the shores of San Clemente, and everywhere in between thrives and every person has access to a successful and self-sufficient future.

Thank you for restoring hope with your actions and joining our movement to improve lives. Thank you for LIVING UNITED.

With gratitude,

Jerry Mattes
Chairman
Orange County United Way LIVE UNITED Campaign
2012-2013

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