For the past few years, the libraries have hosted a chili cook off to raise money to support the local United Way. I have the job of finding chili cooks for this year’s event which is on Thursday, October 18. So far, we have five pots of chili but need at least five more.

Logistics

Either Sheila, Shannon, or I will be at the loading dock on Thursday morning to meet people bringing chili.  We will take it to 4F51A and either reheat or make sure it stays warm.  We will also clean up your slow cooker afterward and store leftovers in a container that you can either pick up or leave for others to finish (assuming there are leftovers).

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for considering,

Gwen Gray, grayg@missouri.edu

The 2018 United Way campaign has begun! This marks the 71^st year that Mizzou and the Heart of Missouri United Way have partnered together for this important cause.

Similar to last year, each division on campus will be asked to focus on giving during a 2-week mini-campaign. The Libraries campaign will be from Monday, October 15 to Friday, October 26. (You can also give before our mini-campaign starts.)

We will have a couple of events at the Libraries to encourage participation in the United Way campaign and to raise some additional money. The first event will be the Chili Kickoff on Thursday, October 18 from 11:30 am to 1 pm. Everyone is welcome, and a donation of $2 to $5 would be appreciated. We will also have some fun pay-to-play games during the Kickoff. In addition, this year we will have a bake sale on Wednesday, October 24 and a contest to see which department can donate the most pocket change. More details to come.

United Way supports a variety of very important programs in mid-Missouri. To learn more, please visit https://www.uwheartmo.org/.

You have several options for giving, either online or ask Sheila Voss for a pledge form. Don’t forget, you can give through payroll deduction.

Thanks to all of you for your time and participation in this year’s United Way campaign!

University Libraries United Way Committee
Sheila Voss, chair
Michelle Baggett
Shannon Cary
Gwen Gray

Heart of Missouri United Way addresses the four key targets that contribute to poverty: lack of access to education, health, financial stability and basic needs services.

Heart of Missouri United Way supports crisis and intervention services, which include the following:

• Basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, etc.)
• Personal safety services for individuals and families who face threats to their immediate well-being, including but not limited to domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault
• A coordinated system of information and referral services

Some of the local agencies that provide basic needs to community members and receive funding from United Way are listed below.

Harvest House
Heart of Missouri CASA
Love INC
Mid-Missouri Legal Services
Rainbow House
Services for Independent Living
Sustainable Farms & Communities
The Salvation Army
The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri
True North of Columbia
Turning Point at Wilkes Boulevard United Methodist Church
Voluntary Action Center

Happy Friday!

Sheila, Gwen, Sheryl and I are gearing up for the University Libraries United Way festivities!  We want to let you know a bit more of what is being planned and how you can participate and #MizzouLU.

The big event of course is the Chili and Cookie Cook Off on Tuesday October 17^th. If you have not had a chance to sign up for either the chili or cookie and would like to please contact Gwen Gray and let her know. We need your chili and cookies!

We are also doing Penny Wars! Departments versus departments. I believe we broke it down as follows:

• Administration
• Circulation
• Reference
• Technical Services
• Branches including Archives

We will have jars at each of these locations including each branch (if you would like one) to collect spare change and any monetary donations you would like to make to the United Way. These are not for your pledge donations!

We’ve heard back from several branches already who would like a jar so please let us know if you would like one and Gwen and I will make sure you get one! We will begin distributing these next week on Monday.

A huge Thank you to Kate Wright for designing the jar label for us! (See attachment).

Folks can continue to add to the jars up until the Chili and Cookie Cook off and then we will collect those at the event and get a final count out to everyone in the days following the cook off. We think this will be a lot of fun.

Please keep the jars in staff areas to keep them from walking awayJ

Don’t forget to start saving that change and preparing your chili and cookie recipes!

All the best!

Sheila, Michelle, Sheryl, and Gwen
Your 2017 United Way Ambassadors
#MizzouLU

Hello Everyone! The University Libraries is gearing up for this year’s United Way campaign. The University is doing things a bit different this year and giving each area of campus a section of time to run their campaign. Our campaign will run from October 16- 27^th.

This year’s United Way theme is, “Live Mizzou. Live United.”

There is even a fun hashtag #MizzouLU, Mizzou Lives United.

How can you a member of the Mizzou family live united? There are so many ways! Whether it be a monetary donation to a United Way organization or giving of your time the ways are endless of how you can help.

One way that you can show your support is to come out for the Annual Chili cook off! This year we are mixing things up a bit by adding a Cookie Bake off to go along with the Chili. You definitely don’t want to miss the excitement of this change up.

We will also be doing a few games along the way so watch for those emails to come out soon!

Sheila Voss is back this year to help lead your United Way Ambassadors, Gwen, Sheryl and Michelle through a great campaign. To make it a huge success we need YOU.

So are you ready to MizzouLU?

1. Mark your calendar for October 17, Chili Cook-Off and Cookie Bake off Day!
2. Contact Gwen Gray to sign up to bring chili. Poultry, Meat, and Vegetarian are the categories for you to consider. Which will it be?
3. If you are a staff member of a specialized library or UMLD, Please consider the cook off! We want to see your smiling faces at this event.
4. Our team is supported by Sheila Voss! Sheila can assist with your questions related to your donation or how you can help.

For now, please mark your calendar to attend the chili cook-off at 11:30 on Tuesday, October 17.  Plan to come hungry! And Live United!

Our best to you!

Gwen Gray, Sheryl Cullina and Michelle Baggett
2017 United Way Unit Ambassadors
#MizzouLU