Another Successful Far West Fibers Classic

Thanks to 168 golfers that made up 42 teams in the 14th annual golf meet benefiting the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. Special thanks to presenting sponsor Far West Fibers for organizing the event, led by Rick Paul and Vinod Singh.

Taking first place on the south course are Tom Davidson, Bill Woods, Jim Bean and Charles Neuner, representing the Accounting Firm on Nuener/Davidson.

Wells Fargo Advisors is the top finishing team on the south course. Team consists of Bill Lockwood, Steve Smith, Brian Smith and Quintan Smith.

Big thanks to companies sponsoring the event:

Gold: The Oregonian and Waste Management

Silver: US Bank and Waste Connections

Bronze: CellMark; Krause Manufacturing; L&P Wire Tie Systems; Norlift; Recology; UPS; Wachovia Securities; Wells Fargo Advisors

Next year's Far West Fibers Classic is slated for June 24, 2010 at The Reserve. Save the date, and see you there!


Photos by Maileen Hamto and Laura O'Brien

Campaign Chair Award: Benson Industries

Benson Industries took the United Way Campaign Chair Award for exemplary results among companies with fewer than 200 employees. The company is recognized for its unwavering dedication and support of our community. Benson’s employee giving and corporate gift increased by 40% this year.



Benson Industries employees were honored for their successful United Way community campaign at a recent reception. Pictured from left are: Pam Albee, United Way Account Executive; Marc Levy, United Way CEO and President; Danielle Law and Danielle Sass, Benson's Employee Campaign Coordinators; and Lou Niles, CEO, Benson Industries.

See the complete list of outstanding workplace campaigns

Congrats Norm Thompson Employees!

Thank you, Norm Thompson Outfitters for a wonderful campaign for our community. Employees logged the largest percent increase in the number of leadership givers. Accepting the award from Toni Carlo, United Way VP of Workplace Giving, is Norm Thompson CEO Jim Difrancesco.

View the full list of campaign award winners

Laurie Dahla (center) served as campaign coordinator for Norm Thompson. She is pictured with Toni Carlo and James Dillard (right), United Way of the Columbia-Willamette Account Executive.

Thank you and Congrats, State of Oregon!

Kris Kautz, Deputy Director for the State of Oregon's Department of Administrative Services (DAS), accepts the Best of Trade, Government Division Award from Pam Albee, Account Executive with United Way of the Columbia Willamette.

The award recognizes the best performance by a government entity in United Way of the Columbia Willamette's 2008 annual campaign.

Thank you, State of Oregon employees, for supporting our community.


See the full list of United Way campaign award winners

Grant allocations announced; volunteers honored

Thirty-seven programs involving more than 150 collaborating partners will receive $4 million in awards following a six-month volunteer-driven competitive grant review process. The awards fall into two categories, three-year Community Investment grants and one-year Project Innovation grants. Click here for funded projects

In this grant cycle, United Way received 275 proposals totaling over $36 million in requests for funding. This is up significantly from the last grant cycle in 2006, when United Way received 168 proposals requesting $15.8 million. The 275 proposals submitted to United Way represent a total of 447 organizations, as the result of collaboration and partnership agreements.

“We received so many strong proposals that it was extremely hard for our volunteers and staff to make final selections,” said Howard Klink, Vice President of Community Investment. “There is no question that the needs in our community far outweigh available funds.”

Thanks to 60 Vision Council volunteers who gave much of their time to lead the proposal review process. They brought with them a wealth of experience and expertise in health and human services, and represented a broad range of professionals, local leadership and diverse communities. Collectively, volunteers contributed more than 2,175 hours toward the review process. Volunteers were honored at a reception held at United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.

Jubitz Campaign Goes the Extra Mile

Congratulations to Arielle Lujan and Tracy St. Martin of Jubitz Companies for winning the United Way Campaign Coordinators of the Year Award.

Both Arielle and Tracy made a personal pledge to United Way, encouraging other staff to follow their lead. They recruited a team of 15 employees, conducted timely assistant coordinator training sessions and gave them significant incentive awards for signing up. They developed a campaign timeline, set campaign goals and fit the campaign to Jubitz’s corporate culture.

Pictured from left: Mark Gram, Chief Operating Officer, Jubitz Cos.; Donna Harris, United Way Account Executive; and Jubitz campaign coordinators Tracy St. Martin and Arielle Lujan.

Meetings and events were scheduled at every site and special attention was given to those working the swing and graveyard shifts. In addition to collecting pledge forms, the coordinators placed coin jars and Oregon Food Bank bins throughout the Jubitz organization. Tracy, Arielle and the entire committee worked tirelessly at special events that ran as early as 7am and as late as 7pm.

In addition, their team secured top management endorsement and participation, and secured a Campaign budget The team also secured matching corporate funds from Jubitz Corp. Corporate officers also led the way in giving. Special thanks to Fred Jubitz, President; Larry Bauman, Vice President; Mark Gram, COO; Rod Iwata, Director of IT; and Victor Stibolt.

The campaign coordinators’ message was succinct and clear: "Partner with United Way to advance the common good." As a result, they were able to post an 85% campaign participation rate. Their goal next year is 100%.

Get the complete list of United Way campaign award winners.

Axium Wins Best New Campaign

Congratulations and special thanks to the employees of Axium, a software developer company that specializes in architecture and engineering project management solutions. The 25-year-old company ran its first United Way campaign in 2008-09. Several Axium employees became Leadership Givers, contributing at least $1,000 each to help local programs.

Pictured from left (above): Jeff Zawada, United Way Account Executive; Marc Levy, CEO and President, United Way; Alan Mills, Chief Operating Officer, Axium; Ariel Zimmer, employee campaign coordinator; and Cathy Mills, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Axium. Below, Axium leaders received the Best New Campaign Award on behalf of all employees. Thank you, Axium!



Click here for a complete list of award winners from this year's campaign