Although sharing a heartfelt thank you doesn’t usually require much time or effort, it’s true that many of us fail to say these two simple – yet powerful – words often enough.

Since United Way was founded more than 125 years ago, individuals, companies, foundations and organizations have been coming together on an ongoing basis around common causes, a shared vision and a path to positively impact lives.

At UWBCKR, we know that creating positive change takes a critical mass of people working together towards common goals. We understand the complexity of the issues and believe that a collaborative approach is essential to drive impact and #changethestory.

Recognizing the importance of saying “thank you”, we thought it would be very appropriate (and, fun) to launch “ThankYouThursday”; a new twist on the social media trend #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT. So, every Thursday, UWBCKR will strive to recognize and thank someone who is helping to #changethestory in our region.

We begin this week with a genuine thank you to the following:

Pacesetters. Pacesetters are companies and organizations that run early campaigns and help set the pace for the rest of the campaign by striving to increase their campaign by a minimum 2% over the previous year.  The 2015 Pacesetters are: Stryker; Comstock Community Center; First National Bank; Greenleaf Trust and Lakeview Ford.

Sweepstakes Sponsors. The 2015 UWBCKR Sweepstakes would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. The 2015 Sweepstakes Sponsors are: Kellogg Community Federal Credit Union; Cole Nissan; DeNooyer Chevrolet; Henkel Automotive Group; Heritage Chevrolet; Lakeview Ford; Metro Toyota; Orrin B. Hayes, Inc; Seelye Auto Group; Sunshine Toyota and Zeigler Automotive Group. (For sweepstakes information, please click here.)

Co-branded Billboard Participants. UWBCKR continues to partner with our friends at Adams Outdoor Advertising to provide companies and organizations with an opportunity to engage and very publicly show their corporate citizenship by sponsoring and being featured on a co-branded billboard. To date, the Co-branded Billboard Participants include: Abraxas; Borgess Hospital; Chemical Bank; City of Battle Creek; City of Kalamazoo; CSM Group; Fabri-Kal; Fifth Third Bank; 1^st Source Bank; First National Bank of Michigan; Greenleaf Trust; Honigman; Jansen, Valk, Thompson & Reahm; Kalamazoo College; Mercantile Bank; Metro Toyota; WMU School of Medicine; Old National Bank; Pfizer; Zoetis; PNC Bank; Schupan & Sons; Seelye Auto Group; Stryker; Western Michigan University and WMU – AFSCME. (For co-branded billboard information, please email Jay Sherwood at jsherwood@uwbckr.org.) 

We invite you to join us. Instead of (or, at least in addition to) posting old photos on #TBT, we hope you will engage with us as we launch #ThankYouThursday. Post a picture and/or share a story of an individual, a company, and/or a group who is helping change the story through their/your support of UWBCKR and our regional community. Please use the hashtags #changethestory and #ThankYouThursday. Or, feel free to send an email to information@uwbckr.org.