As the month of February progresses, so does our United Way Campus Campaign at Fort Hays State University. We have had one successful food truck Friday with Smokin Co. BBQ and a birthday challenge. Since I turned 60 earlier this month, staff thought it would be fun to offer a challenge: Anyone who donates $60 or more to the United Way Campus Campaign will be eligible to win a prize from local businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nspecial thank you to the following local businesses for supporting the United\nWay Campus Campaign, which is all about improving lives by mobilizing the\ncaring power of communities around the world to advance the common good: Anhelo\nMassage & Wellness; CJ Snaps; Flowers by Frances; Paisley Pear Wine Bar,\nBistro and Market; PoPt Gourmet Popcorn; Stephanie Jacobs, All the Rage\nStudios; and The Inn at 117.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking\nof advancing the common good, let me highlight just a few of our campus\ncolleagues who responded when we asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s Your United Way Story?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason\nWilliby, president and CEO of the FHSU Foundation, has been a proud American\nRed Cross blood donor since his days as a Fort Hays State undergraduate. He has\na vivid recollection of his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp), walking all\nnew members to the blood drive at the Memorial Union. \u201cAs new members, we were\nall encouraged to donate at the same time as a team-building experience. Giving\nblood is such an easy way to give back to the community. In giving just one\nhour of your time, a donor can help save up to three lives. I am proud to have\ndonated 65 times since 1994.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FHSU\nsenior Audra Boerger, a marketing major from McPherson and a VIP Ambassador on\ncampus, worked for Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services through FHSU\nand Dane G. Hansen\u2019s internship program last summer. Boerger said she was moved\nby her experience at Options, a United Way-supported agency. \u201cAfter my program\nwas over, I found a passion in helping survivors find the resources that they\nneed and aiding them through their healing journey. Through the volunteer work\nI have done; I feel like I make an impact in a way that I cannot even begin to\ncomprehend. The survivors are the ones who are important, and my job is to make\nthem feel that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over\nthe years, several of our students have really enjoyed their service with Big\nBrothers, Big Sisters of Ellis County. One of those current volunteers is Amari\nAngram-Boldin, a senior Tiger football player from Pahokee, Fla. He said that\nhe can identify with some of the children in the program after growing up the\noldest of three children in a one-parent household. \u201cWhen I considered\nvolunteering, I instantly thought about how badly I wanted a big brother as a\nrole model growing up. I look at it as an opportunity to pay back and make an\nimpact in a kid\u2019s life, because I know how happy it made me when older guys\nwould take me under their wings when I was a child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amy\nSchaffer, FHSU\u2019s compliance officer, volunteers as a board member for the\nUnited Way because she has seen how the organization brings people, agencies\nand donations together to make the biggest impact. \u201cI have always worked in\njobs where I assist people going through difficult situations and often, I\nwould connect them to a United Way agency to get additional support. I saw how\nthe United Way partner agencies helped provide resources to help the person\nmove forward, whether it was shelter, food, mentoring services or financial\nassistance. Since I joined the board, I have also seen how the United Way\nbrings resources together to help bring positive changes to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through\nits core grief support groups, the Center for Life Experience, Inc. (CFLE)\nprovides peer-to-peer support for individuals dealing with loss. Thanks to\nfunding from individuals and organizations such as the United Way, CFLE\ncontinues to work for hope and healing within our community. Dawne Leiker, an\nacademic advisor in the Department of Informatics, serves as president of the\nexecutive board of CFLE. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful for the investment that United Way\nhas made in our organization. It has helped us transition to a community-based\n501c3, where we can be more responsive to our community\u2019s needs. Peer-to-peer\ngrief support is now so very critical, as many people are facing devastating\nlosses throughout the pandemic. Thanks to United Way for supporting our\nmission!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Janette\nMeis, communications specialist in the Office of the President, first became\ninvolved with the United Way in the late \u201990s when she was the director of CASA\nof the High Plains, a member agency. \u201cSince then I have been a long-time donor\nand now am involved with the Wonder Women League (WWL), which operates under\nthe United Way. The WWL celebrates the power of women in this community who\ngive not only money, but time and service for others. I\u2019m proud to be\nassociated with so many wonderful women and the work that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justin\nGreenleaf, associate professor of leadership studies, volunteers for the United\nWay because the organization works for the common good of our community. \u201cThe\nUnited Way is able to address problems facing Ellis County in ways that I would\nnot be able to alone. Through a systems-level approach, they provide support\nwhere it is needed most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FHSU junior Kellyn Wahlmeier, a communication sciences and disorders major from Colby and a VIP Ambassador, shared that she was surprised by how much she gained from serving as a big sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters. \u201cIt’s time that I get to spend away from school, focusing on making someone else’s day just a little bit brighter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I cannot think of a better sentiment than that \u2013 serving with love and fueled by the financial resources and shared mission of United Way agencies makes our communities better. It also consistently makes \u201csomeone else\u2019s day just a little bit brighter.\u201d For me, focusing on activities that can positively change the lives of other people is why I get up every morning with a smile and a purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the month of February progresses, so does our United Way Campus Campaign at Fort Hays State University. We have had one successful food truck… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58736"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58737,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58736\/revisions\/58737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}