For the last two years, I've volunteered on the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’s Brand Leadership Council. During this time, I’ve been exposed to all the great work the United Way is doing to help the Dallas community.
So, I'm proud that Frito-Lay just completed another year of successful United Way fundraising and exceeded its goal of raising $3 million -- a 10 percent increase over last year. We achieved this thanks to our incredible employees, whose campaign participation increased by 12 percent this year, making Frito-Lay the second-largest corporate contributor in the Dallas area, behind Texas Instruments.
Frito-Lay employees always put a lot of fun and energy into the United Way campaign, and this year was no exception. One team held “spudzilla-” eating and salsa-chugging contests; another team hosted a Texas chili cook-off; and another even held a roast for my former boss (and a good sport), Jaya Kumar.
With the tough economy, the help the United Way provides in the community is needed more than ever. As part of the Brand Leadership Council, I've seen the United Way take steps to ensure the donations it receives go even further. One of these steps is to focus, on the programs that have the greatest impact -- income, education and health.
Deb Gibbins (pictured right), Frito-Lay's Controller, volunteers as the Chair of the United Way Strategic Planning Committee, leading a team that’s developing a long-term strategy for United Way Dallas. The team sets specific objectives and desired results for each program the United Way funds.
Here are three of my favorite United Way programs that her team is working on:
• Earn It! Keep It! Save It!: Through this program, the United Way educates low- and moderate-income families about potential eligibility for a $1,700 Earned Income Tax Credit. At least 20 percent of eligible families in the Dallas area don't apply for this tax credit because they either don't know about it or filing for it seems too complex. So, last spring, The United Way set up 29 offices, staffed by 385 volunteers (including many people from Frito-Lay), to help 4,600 families file tax returns and collect a total of $8 million in refunds.
• Destination: Graduation: In the Dallas area, a staggering 42 percent of African Americans and 54 percent of Hispanics are not graduating from high school, even though we know that education is the single most important factor in determining a person's poverty status. The "Destination: Graduation" initiative aims to help students stay in school. It includes mentoring programs with Big Brothers and Big Sisters; a program that teaches parents how to work with their children and the school; and college prep and study skills training for students. And it’s working: Participants in this program are 18 percent more likely to graduate high school than their peers who aren’t in the program.
• Increasing Childen’s Access to Health Insurance: More than 1.5 million children in Texas are uninsured, even though nearly half of these children are eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Recently, the United Way successfully helped get the Texas House to pass a bill that would require the state to enhance the efficiency of CHIP applications and reduce the number of applications that “fall through the cracks.”
One last plug for the United Way: I recommend visiting your local United Way’s Web site to learn about how the organization is helping your community and how you can give back.
This year, I'm joining my friends from Frito-Lay by volunteering to help people fill out their tax returns, as a part of the "Earn It! Keep It! Save It!" program. Maybe I'll see you there, volunteering with us.
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