Posts by Rick Chambers
United Against Hunger To Tackle Food Insecurity
“Kids are always hungry, and it hurts me a little inside every time I have to tell them ‘no.’ … I want to tell them ‘yes!’ I don’t want to say, ‘I’m sorry, we don’t have any more apples till payday, or any more chips, or any more Popsicles.’” The pain that Michigan mom and…
Read MoreUnified Kickoff Shares Impact Statewide
“United Ways: assemble!” Like The Avengers of movie fame, United Ways across Michigan, including United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region, are joining forces to share stories of local impact and to invite the entire state to be heroes in their community. This is the fifth year that United Ways statewide have come…
Read MoreCall to Advocate: SNAP Rule Change Will Mean More Hungry Families
More than 3 million Americans, including hundreds locally, could lose food assistance under a proposed federal rule change. That means more hungry families in our region. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) wants to change a rule that lets some people who earn slightly over the income limit for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—SNAP, or…
Read MoreInvesting for Impact: $6.24 Million in UWBCKR Grants Drives Change
Childhood trauma, infant health, stable housing and food insecurity are among 110 area programs receiving a total of $6,247,821 in grants from United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region. Sixty programs will receive a total of $3,718,401 in strategic grants annually for three years, according to Alyssa Stewart, Vice President of Impact &…
Read MoreThank You For Being a Friend: Kellogg, UW Join Forces to Stop Bullying
Next time you’re at a middle school or high school event, take a look at the kids around you and think about this: 1 in 5 of them has been bullied. That’s the sobering fact from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Two organizations in our community are determined to shrink that number. In honor…
Read More‘On The Ground’ Partnership Harvests Tales of Impact
A neighborhood-focused news series is turning up stories of resilience in communities throughout our region—and United Way is a partner in that work. Issue Media Group launched its On The Ground (OTG) online news series in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek starting in 2018. OTG embeds locally trained journalists in specific neighborhoods to better understand them,…
Read MoreBattle Creek Area Students to Take Part in Youth Day of Caring
On Friday, May 17, more than 300 Calhoun County high school students will set a powerful example of making a difference through volunteerism Students from 10 area schools and organizations will take part in the 11th annual Youth Day of Caring. Volunteer groups, ranging in size from five to 75 high schoolers, will spend the…
Read MoreKellogg Adds Incentive to Promote Letter Carriers’ Food Drive
Kellogg Company is bringing a little something extra to this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive: an incentive to prompt more donations and benefit hungry families locally. The National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual drive happens Saturday, May 11. It’s the biggest one-day food drive in the country. Kellogg is a national sponsor of Stamp…
Read MoreUW Honored for Supporting Survivors of Sexual Assault
United Way’s support and advocacy for the survivors of sexual violence earned us special recognition. Bronson Healthcare’s Sexual Assault Services (SAS), based in Battle Creek, awarded our United Way the distinguished Betty Christ Memorial Award. The award honors outstanding community advocacy on behalf of sexual assault survivors. United Way “has gone above and beyond in…
Read MoreTalking about ALICE
Let’s talk about ALICE. Let’s talk about what it means to be Asset Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed. Let’s talk about the challenges faced by 4 in 10 households in our region—hard-working households that still struggle to make ends meet. Let’s talk about the difficulty they face in trying to better their lives when 61%…
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