Mondale and United Way

I was invited to a Community Builders breakfast for United Way. The first week of Oct is United Way week at LOL and they always have some kick-off events prior; one of them being this breakfast meeting with a guest speaker. Last year we had Frank V from Kare 11…this year it was Walter Mondale. It was so awesome! VP Mondale talked about the importance of giving in our community – how the economy has greatly increased the needs and also he did a little political Q&A. Community Builders are people who give a certain amount to UW and are considered leaders at their place of employment. I think it is funny I am in the mix because most people are Directors and above – there are some other manager types but I think I am the only real peon in the room.

Anyway – you know I think giving back through time or money or both is important so I encourage you to give to someone – you may not like United Way but please consider a gift of your time or money to something or someone.

Some local stats:
*Approx. 580k in Metro are living in or at the edge of poverty.
*nearly 435k households use a food shelf
* family of 4 needs 39k for basic needs including a 2br apt – yet half of the open jobs in MN pay 22k
*by 2030 nearly 50% of all elderly households will be one-person households, doubling the number of persons over 65 who live alone.

This statement from the UW brochure says it nicely “When a child succeeds in school, when families are financially stable and when people have good health, the benefits ripple across the entire community”