Education has long been one of the pillars of United Way, specifically with their Success By 6 Impact Council, an initiative that focuses on the benefit of early childhood education in our community. Power of the Community is an annual volunteer-led fundraising event that the United Way holds as a part of their efforts to promote high-quality early childhood education and supports Success By 6 programs like Real Men Read.
Because of the current status of the pandemic in our community, this year’s Power of the Community event will be a virtual silent auction from September 7 to September 12, with the auction closing officially at 7 pm. The auction includes a variety of items and is truly something for everyone. The packages include items geared towards kids, like books and activities or Holiday World tickets. While others will appeal to adults such as the French Lick package that includes a coupon for a one-night stay at the French Lick Resort as well as a round of golf for two. The auction also includes many local gift cards, home décor, and unique experiences. There is certainly something for everyone at the Power of the Community auction, with all proceeds going towards the United Way of the Wabash Valley’s Success By 6 Council. You can visit the auction directly at 32auctions.com/power2021.
Success By 6 is an Impact Council of the United Way promoting high-quality early childhood development to ensure children enter school ready to succeed. One of the favorite programs of Success By 6 is Real Men Read, in which adult role models volunteer their time to go to local schools to both read to the children and to encourage them to explore the joy that reading can bring. Each time a visitor comes, the students will get to bring home a book of their own. This encourages them to read, increasing literacy skills and overall desire to read. Since the program began in 2011 over 16,000 children have participated, taking home over 80,000 books. It is vital to instill the joy of reading in children at a young age as reading is the gateway for education.
The co-chair for the event, Kathy Deal, explained, “The name of the event truly captures the heart of our community. We sincerely thank all the local schools, restaurants, businesses, and citizens that annually donate generously to make this event happen and raise funds for the United Way. They eagerly support the needs of our youngest students by ensuring they have quality reading opportunities. We also would like to thank our generous sponsors, A+ Printing, First Farmers Bank and Trust, Great Dane, Riddle National Bank, and Terre Haute Savings Bank who continuously support our community.”
Richard Payonk, the Executive Director of the United Way stated, “Having volunteers put together this auction to raise money for our work is truly meaningful. It takes resources to be able to run the programs like Real Men Read, and having volunteers, community members, and businesses step up and donate their time and resources is what makes the United Way work. Your support of this auction will benefit many children across the Wabash Valley.”
To learn more about the Power of the Community including a link to the auction, or to donate directly to Success By 6 visit the website at uwwv.org/poc. The auction opens on September 7, and closes at 7 PM on September 12.
