Tiffany Beaudry is a senior at Grand Valley State from Grand Rapids , MI . Read what Tiffany does to LIVE UNITED:

WHAT I DID TO LIVE UNITED
I enjoy impacting people’s lives in positive ways through giving my time. ASB (Alternative Spring Break) has given me the opportunity to be a team leader which helps me show others the importance in giving back and life-long volunteering. It is really neat to see the ASB volunteers bring this back to their own community and improve the areas they live in. I impact my community through mentoring a little girl in efforts to help her reach her potential.

I WOULD ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO LIVE UNITED BY
Positively impacting the communities that they live in. I would encourage others to seek opportunities for involvement and volunteering to help others within the community.

DO THIS NOW BECAUSE
I think we should make a difference today because one can tell someone what we are going to do, but results have a way of showing the world. I hope we can LIVE UNITED and become influential role models in our communities. I think that our generation should act now and I hope we can leave the world in a better state than when we received it.

CREATE A LIVE UNITED PROFILE
Join the LIVE UNITED movement by creating a profile at click here. By registering on our new website, you will get updates on opportunities to give, advocate and volunteer, plus any updates from your local United Way . While you are there, be sure to watch our new LIVE UNITED ad spot. Together, we can build a movement across America that inspires hope and creates opportunities for a better life for everyone.

YOUR VOLUNTEER TIME MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Did you know the campus volunteer growth rate is an outstanding 20 percent—compared to the adult volunteer growth rate of 9 percent? College and university students’ volunteer time was worth over $2.3 billion in 2005, equal to over $18 per hour. Alternative Spring Break and United Way 10,000 Hours Show volunteers should be proud to have contributed 160,000 volunteer hours. To find volunteer opportunities in your community, visit www.liveunited.org.

SUMMER INTERN GREENS UNITED WAY OF GREATER GREENSBORO
A summer internship became more than a just a job for Anna Simon, an intern at United Way of Greater Greensboro. It became an opportunity to change the workplace culture for the better by greening the office and implementing environmentally-friendly practices.

Simon came up with the idea after attending an orientation and training for United Ways in North Carolina . She was dismayed by the bottled water, packaged snacks, print outs and lack of environmental consciousness at the meeting. But, after talking to her co-workers about it, she realized she could change how United Way of Greater Greensboro operated.

Drawing on her experience organizing an environmentally-friendly conference at Vanderbilt for Idealist as well as research on environmentally friendly practices, Simon created an Environmental Impact Mission Statement for the organization. Her supervisor listened to her concerns and supported them, encouraging her to share the Mission Statement with staff and get their buy-in. Now, United Way of Greater Greensboro is making sustainable, environmentally-friendly practices the norm.

United Way of Greater Greensboro is becoming more environmentally conscious in small, simple ways. For example, they are no longer buying bottled water, are purchasing only 30% post-consumer recycled paper and energy-efficient light bulbs and are reducing their printing costs. By simply turning off their monitors and computers when they go home and setting them to hibernate after 15 minutes, the staff of 35 is going to save $2,000 in electricity this year – the equivalent of taking six cars off the road.

Simon’s goal is to engrain a consciousness for the environment in the workplace culture. When more people are invested in it, better results will be produced. “It really makes sense that if we are impacting our community we need to think about our environmental impact, too,” Simon said.

For others wanting to improve the environment, Simon stressed that all it takes is someone that is passionate to bring awareness to the issue. If you are interested in learning more about environmentally friendly practices or learning about energy consumption, Simon recommends visiting the following websites to learn more about environmentally-friendly consumption: Environmental Defense Fund’s Light Bulb Savings Calculator and Paper Calculator, and the Environmental Protect Agency’s Waste Tools.

INTERESTED IN STARTING A CAMPUS CHAPTER?
Are you interested in starting a campus chapter of United Way? We are currently recruiting student leaders for our 2008-09 program. Campus chapters are student-led community change organizations on campuses that work with students and their local United Way to give, advocate and volunteer in the community. To learn more about campus chapters, contact Mike Brooks at mike.brooks@uwa.unitedway.org.

JOIN A UNITED WAY FACEBOOK CAUSE
United Ways have launched several exciting Facebook causes to impact education, income and health in communities nationwide. To join a cause, visit www.causes.com/uwchallenge and select the cause you can be the best advocate for.

JOBS
Associate Account Executive, United Way of Greater Los Angeles , Los Angeles , CA
Donor Engagement Associate, United Way of Greater Los Angeles , Los Angeles , CA
Volunteer Engagement Manager, United Way of Greater New Haven , New Haven , CT
Web Services Specialist, United Way of Tampa Bay , Tampa , FL
Community Ambassador, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley , Boston , MA
Lead Associate, Electronic Media, United Way of America , Alexandria , VA