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Community Corner

Sign Up for UCM's Help the Homeless Campaign - now to 11/2!

Register online today: your $30 gift becomes $40 for UCM!

United Community Ministiries annual Help the Homeless Campaign -- UCM's biggest community fundraising event of the year --  is happening now! 

Thanks to incentive grants from program host Fannie Mae, we can stretch your event registration or check donation dollars for an even bigger impact to help local families avoid homelessness and get on the path to financial stability.  Now is your unique opportunity to change lives for the better! Thanks to your help and support, we can make it happen to build strong families and strong communities in southeast Fairfax County.

Click here to download and share our Help the Homeless flyer (pdf). 

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Here's how you can help, now to Nov. 2:

We have 4 ways to help this year  (click here for our website).

1.  Participate in a Walk, Activity or Special Event

Have fun raising awareness and funds to support our neighbors in need.  Event registration is $20 for youth to age 25, $30 for adults. There will be many fun public events to choose from, including neighborhoods, schools and community events -- all listed with Team Pages as they're scheduled. Click here for the current list of area walks -- it's in alpha order by beneficiary name, so scroll down to HTH Beneficiary "2013 UCM," toward the end of the webpage.

      Special thanks to Aquinas Montessori, Browne AcademyHeritage Presbyterian ChurchMount Vernon AAUW Friends of UCM (9/21), Plymouth Haven Preschool/Church, Saint Aidan's Episcopal Day School, Saint Louis Catholic School, and Waynewood Elementary School -- which are all in the process of scheduling and publicizing their walk events to support UCM this year! 

      Some schools and groups are holding events to raise funds to donate as a check to UCM, such as a car wash -- or a Food Drive to help stock our Food Pantry. West Potomac High School JROTC will be donating funds from their 9/28 and 10/12 car wash events to UCM to help the homeless, too.

Find out what's happening in Mount Vernonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

2.  Sign up now to "Sleep In To Help Out," our new virtual online event!

Want to participate but no time with busy schedules?  Register online by Nov. 2 for our UCM Sleep In To Help Out "virtual event" -- easy and hassle-free!  Click here to register now!

There's no obligation to attend anything, so spend your evening as you like, be it alone with a good book or with friends, a quiet walk or a movie -- or even get to sleep early! Your registration donation of $20 for age 25 and younger, $30 donation for adults will count toward UCM's total number of campaign registrants -- and help us earn incentive grants!

If 1,500 people sign up for the virtual event or the other hosted walks/events, we'll receive a $15,000 bonus incentive! That's like a $10 per event participant bonus "match."  Your $20 youth registration fee becomes a $30 gift to UCM, and a $30 adult registration means $40 will come to UCM. Where else can you get a 30-50% instant return on your investment?  We think it's a pretty generous  payback to help people in need, and hope you'll agree! 

Click here to register yourself and your family now. We promise it will be a few minutes well spent "to sleep in to help out."And speaking of sleeping in, here's something to dream about:  a strong and healthy community, where every resident has a safe and stable place to live and call home.

3.  Host a Walk or Special Event of Your Own for UCM!

It's easy to incorporate a UCM Help the Homeless fundraising component into your ongoing or new event at your school, neighborhood, sports, social, business or other group activity -- and ask your friends and colleagues to help prevent homelessness. Your event can be any get-together or activity of your choosing... no walking or another physical activity is even necessary! We can arrange to have Help the Homeless T-shirts for your event, too.

To register and set up your event right now, click here. Once you've registered it, please forward your confirmation email from Fannie Mae to Diane Hill, UCM's Help the Homeless program manager, at diane.hill@ucmagency.org.  She can help with your date and event setup -- and we're happy to publicize your event with our audience of caring community members.

For details on how to organize your event, click here.  For tips on customizing your event's own "Team Page"  with a customizable weblink, click here.

All events must be registered online by Oct. 18 and take place by Nov. 3. If you need help, email Diane Hill to tell us about your date and for help getting started.

4.  Write a Check to Support UCM

If you prefer, make out your check to "Help the Homeless/CFNCR" and mail it to UCM by Nov. 15.  As part of our "UCM Advocates for the Homeless" sponsorship, your check will help UCM qualify for Fannie Mae's 15% sponsorship match. For example, your $100 gift will become $115 to directly benefit UCM.

No matter how you decide to help, your registration fee or check donation is 100% tax deductible.  And 100% of your credit card registration or check directly benefits UCM families in need.

Our UCM website is live with our Help the Homeless Campaign Headquarters pages with our flyer and full information and links.

Click here to download and share our Help the Homeless flyer (pdf). 

Click here to view our 2013 Help the Homeless photo album.

For questions or information to set up your Help the Homeless event to benefit UCM, contact Diane Hill at diane.hill@ucmagency.org or phone 571.255.8978. 

Every Step You Take Prevents Homelessness Here in Our Community.

Thank You! 

www.ucmagency.org


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