Events Director

United Way of Salt Lake’s Tocqueville Society gathered Tuesday night at Zions Bank’s to honor John Milliken, President of Milcom, Inc. as the Member of the Year! They also gathered to recognize the newest Tocqueville members as our community’s most influential and generous leaders.

Deborah Bayle, President & CEO of United Way of Salt Lake, spoke about the impact that the 72 member’s contribution of nearly $3 million has made so far this year. Deborah described the new member award beautifully–which is a crafted crystal ball with a drop inside in the motion of a wave.  Deborah stated that just like a wave, the impact of each member’s gift to our community has rippling effects.

The evening was topped off with guest speaker, Carly Fiorina, Former CEO of Hewlett – Packard.  Carly and her husband, Frank, are also members of their local Tocqueville Society. Carly said, “Tonight, through your very generous contribution to this community through United Way of Salt Lake, you are giving people you may never meet and may never know a chance to seize a possibility.” She highlighted that we are lucky to live in a country that gives new chances to others and shared her own stories of people who have taken a chance on her–from where she started as a receptionist to becoming the first female president of a Fortune 20 company.

As the sun set behind the mountains and the desserts were finished, Carly ended by saying that leadership is about valuing innovation and learning from our experiences. Carly said, “Your generosity has given a whole bunch of people a chance, and that, I think is what this nation is all about.”

Thank you to our generous sponsor, Zions Bank, and the investment from each of our Tocqueville Society members.

Click to view slideshow.

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This weekend, the South Salt Lake Police Athletics/Activities League (PAL) Pete Suazo Boxing Center, one of South Salt Lake’s nine neighborhood centers, sent four youth to compete in the Adidas National Boxing Tournament in Oxnard, California. This is the first time boxers from South Salt Lake have competed in such a tournament, and the competition was nationally renowned. “Our boxers performed great,” says PAL Boxing Coach Oscar Gomez.  “We, as coaches, were able to learn what we need to work on.”

“Our boxers now see the standard of the hard workouts essential to competing at the National level and have rededicated themselves to this new standard,” says Matt Pena, PAL Boxing Coach.  “It’s a great experience coaching at the PAL–being both a coach and a life mentor. These kids are bringing home so much more than boxing experience, they are bringing home life experiences.”

“The National Tournament showed me discipline through watching a professional trainer and two professional fighters,” says Hugo Hernandez, PAL Boxer.  “I had a wonderful time and hope to go again.” South Salt Lake PAL allows youth opportunities that include academic tutoring, athletics such as boxing, and activities that include urban arts, hip-hop dance, and more.  The staff at the PAL Boxing Center continues to provide activities for youth and give youth new opportunities that they would not have otherwise.

“The PAL Boxing Center helps me with school, gets me prepared to fight in tournaments, and helps us all plan for the future, such as going to college,” says Uriel “Booty” Argumendo, PAL Boxer.  South Salt Lake PAL is a positive youth development organization that utilizes educational, athletic and recreational activities to create trust and understanding between police officers and youth, provide mentoring opportunities to youth, connect youth with strong and positive role models in the community, encourage healthy decision making and self-esteem, and create and promote community partnerships and involvement.

“The PAL Boxing Center inspires me to become a better boxer, to win competitions, helps me relieve stress, learn new things, I get to meet a lot of cool, new people, it helps me with school and the program teaches me discipline,” says Pablo Garcia, PAL Boxer.  “The program shows me how to work hard and to go to college and beyond.”

One goal of the program is to increase academic performance through dedicated staff, volunteers, and mentors.   “Participating at PAL helps me by getting my grades up, by getting healthy, and meeting new people,” says Hugo Hernandez.  Youth participating have to sign a no F’s contract and are not allowed to compete if they have any citizenship issues either at their school or at the center.

Oscar Gomez, PAL Boxing Coach, says, “I enjoy working at the PAL Boxing Center.  The youth have welcomed me as a friend.”  The PAL Boxing Center provides programming for junior high and high school aged youth five days a week, from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., which includes a hot dinner from Utah Food Bank, year-round.  Youth receive academic tutoring, participate in recreational activities (including boxing), and are assigned mentors to support positive social and career development. 

Left to right: Pablo Garcia, Antonio Jimenez, Uriel “Booty” Argunedo,
Hugo Hernandez

Visit www.sslpal.org for more information.

**PAL Boxing Center is a United Way of Salt Lake Community Center in South Salt Lake**

Collective Impact Director

Learning for Life is a program of the Boy Scouts, Great Salt Lake Council, that provides enrichment and character-development activities through both traditional school-day curriculum and afterschool programming. Boys and girls learn about honesty, trust, initiative, and other life skills through activities at school, then they are able to implement these life skills at Camp Tracy in Millcreek Canyon through team-oriented activities.

I recently had the opportunity to see camp in action and was extremely disappointed that I had worn dress shoes! The obstacle course, rocket launch, and hike through beautiful Millcreek Canyon were all very enticing! Some of these students have never stepped foot in the canyons, so the experience is truly a rich one for the youth who participate. This was clearly expressed through the smiles, laughs, energy, and excitement I witnessed at Camp Tracy.

Students from Latinos in Action (LIA), a program that offers peer service and cultural enrichment activities for middle and high-school aged youth, facilitated each of the six stations where the kids were engaged in space-discovery-themed activities. LIA students were able to practice leadership by maintaining order and providing an educational experience for kids participating in camp. What a wonderful, mutually beneficial partnership!

I think I’ll actually sign up for camp next year….or at least wear my tennis shoes!

Collective Impact Director

On Friday May 4th, hundreds of educators, afterschool providers, CLC coordinators, nonprofit employees, and others gathered for an amazing conference titled, “Engaging Families and Communities to Support Youth Success.”

The conference was hosted by the Utah Afterschool Network and The Leadership Academy, which is a joint effort of the Utah Afterschool Network, Westminster College, Utah State Office of Education, Department of Workforce Services, Office of Work and Family Life, United Way of Salt Lake, and Afterschool Utah Association.  Speakers at the conference included Rosemarie Hunter, director of Utah Neighborhood Partners, Irene Fisher of the Bennion Center, Mayor Cherie Wood of South Salt Lake, McKell Whithers, superintendent of Salt Lake School District, and our very own CLC coordinators, Anne Schmidt from Kearns Junior High, and Merri Ann Perkins from Davis Community Learning Center.

The conference was a resounding success by all accounts.  Irene Fisher began the day by recalling United Way’s community dialogues which occurred several years ago and the powerful consensus that participants agreed upon: that all the money in the word cannot fix systemic social problems once they exist; that instead we, as community change agents, need to “get in front of these issues” before they begin and tackle them that way.  Only then will we see lasting change.  Ms. Fisher also noted that at times we may feel like we are wandering in the dark, with only a flashlight to guide us.  But with every couple of steps forward, our flashlight lights up a few more feet ahead of us, so we are able to make steady progress, even though we can’t see our entire path from the outset.

Another big theme that was reiterated throughout the conference was the importance of relationships.   Time and again presenters reflected on the critical role this has played in their success, and that we should not go about our work with the notion that “increasing parent engagement” will lead to better outcomes, but instead focus on building relationships.  If we build authentic relationships with the parents and community members, parent engagement will naturally follow.  But, the opposite is not true.  If we focus our efforts on increasing parent engagement, in the absence of real relationships, we will neither generate parental involvement nor create stronger relationships.  Relationships come first, then trust, then increased parental engagement, and finally better outcomes for children and their families.

All in all, it was a remarkable day.  The presenters were knowledgeable and organized, offering practical solutions to participants for both the short term and long term.  The opening and closing sessions were excellent as well, full of both inspiration and information to help us all.

Thanks to everyone who played a part in organizing this event–it was an honor to attend!

You can begin by including them in your daily financial transactions.

April 24th was the American Bankers Association’s Teach Children to Save Day!

Teach Children to Save is a national campaign that raises awareness about the important role that banks and bankers play in helping young people develop lifelong savings habits. The program has reached 4 million young people with the help of some 97,000 banker volunteers through its annual awareness day and the Teach Children to Save website.

Here are some tips that can help parents teach money at home.

1. Talk openly about money with your kids. Communicate your values and experiences with money. Encourage them to ask you questions, and be prepared to answer them – even the tough ones!

2. Explain the difference between needs and wants, the value in saving and budgeting and the consequences of not doing so.

3. Set up a chore chart and give your children an allowance for completing their tasks.  Require them to save at least a small portion each week.

4. Open a savings account at your local bank for your children and take them with you to make deposits for hands-on learning.

5. Be an example of a responsible money manager by paying bills on time, being a conscious spender and an active saver. Children tend to emulate their parents’ personal finance habits.

For more information about teaching kids about money, check out the Kids & Money section of the Believe website!