As her son Amari turns through the well-worn pages of his favorite Pete the Cat book, eyeing the colorful pictures and singing softly to himself about the cat’s shoes, Ameesha looks on, her eyes lighting up, explaining, “Night and day, he’s always begging for me to read that book with him. Anyone who asks him about Pete the Cat, they better be ready for a long conversation.”
But the four-year-old wasn’t always nose deep in a picture book or comfortable chatting about his favorite character. “I thought he would struggle to get up to speed for school. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough for him,” Ameesha explains.
That all changed when Ameesha connected with United Way partner Parent Child Plus, an organization that provides home-based training and resources that equip parents to embrace their role as their child’s first teacher and effectively and engagingly prepare their youngsters to start school ready to learn.
The program was life changing for Amari, who is now thriving in preschool. Ameesha explains, “He talks better. He learned to love reading. His teachers have commented on how ready, eager and excited he is to learn. And I learned to encourage him, to slow down and let him set the pace so he’s in the best position to learn.”
Amari is just one success story – and with your help, we can give more kids and families, just like Amari and Ameesha, transformative, relevant and life-changing opportunities to thrive, regardless of their background or zip code.
So as 2019 draws to a close, we invite you to join us in investing in our future. When you make an end-of-year gift to United Way, you are a part of the movement to measurably and meaningfully reduce poverty in our community and build a bold, empowered, dynamic, interconnected and vibrant future, where the human potential of our region is truly unlocked. Your gift builds a future where:
• the opportunity to thrive is available to every person in every zip code.
• students are invited to succeed, inside the classroom and out.
• adults grow and apply their skills in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage.
• families build assets to support long-term stability.
• a legacy of financial empowerment and security and educational success passes from one generation to the next.
Ready to expand your impact? We make giving an end of year gift easy:
• Give online at UnitedForImpact.org/Give.
• IRA Distribution – Donors who are 70 ½ years or older can give up to $100,000 from an IRA to a qualified nonprofit like United Way without having to pay income taxes on the gift. Gifts also count towards any required minimum distribution.
• Stocks and Security – You can give stocks and securities by either initiating a transfer through your broker or by directly transferring securities to United Way. More information and instructions are available at UnitedForImpact.org/Stocks, or by calling Donor Services at 800-417-8742.
We do the work that we do because we envision a future where every person in every community has the opportunity to thrive. We do it because we know each and every one of us will be better off as a result. But we can only do this with the power hand of hand raisers, game changers and movement makers, just like you.
Are you in?