Thursday, May 2, 2019
From United Way of Treasure Valley CEO & President, Nora Carpenter...
I have been thinking a lot about the idea of influence. Social influence. Political influence. Personal influence. I have become very aware of how often the word ‘influence’ is used, and how casually we use it. The idea of influence is on my mind because I have the very recent honor to be named one of Idaho Business Review's 2019 CEOs of Influence. It is humbling recognition and one which caused me to ponder just what it means to “influence” something or...
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Our team was thrilled and a bit overwhelmed to see TWO PALLETS of boots arrive at our office on Tuesday morning (which, for the record, is only about half the shipment we're expecting). It was freezing outside but that didn’t stop us from making about twenty trips each to unload both pallets. We certainly got our steps in that day!
It was a bit of a shock to see the mountain of boots piled up in our office. In fact, it really brought out the kid in our CEO & President, Nora Carpenter (see picture above). Who needs a pile of leaves when...
Monday, April 29, 2019
Lucy and Frank are like any other couple you might imagine after almost 50 years of marriage. They enjoy being together in the comfort of the home they’ve built together, and love spending time with their kids and grandkids in their small Nampa neighborhood.
Frank had open heart surgery in February of 2017. It was at the hospital rehab facility where Lucy saw an advertisement for a free community cooking class offered by one of United Way’s funded partners. Up until then, Frank’s diet consisted of mainly steak and greasy potatoes.
We know...
Monday, April 29, 2019
(Original source here)
Ingredients
2 small sweet potatoes (1 lb.)
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. chili powder, divided
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. ground turkey breast
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 c. Chopped cilantro
1/2 avocado, plus more for serving
2 tsp. lime juice
4 toasted whole-grain sandwich thins
tomato, for serving
cucumber, for serving
Lettuce, for serving
sprouts, for serving
Directions
Cut sweet potatoes into 1/4-inch-wide sticks; toss, on large rimmed baking sheet, with olive oil, 1 teaspoon chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt....
Monday, April 29, 2019
image credit
(Original article here)
Improving your diet lowers your risk for heart disease in many ways, including helping to lower high cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar and insulin levels, as well as preventing obesity and improving the function of your heart and blood vessels.
If you are watching your heart health, the following foods should not make it onto your meal plan very often. In fact, if you can cut them out of your diet, your heart will be healthier for it.
Processed meats
How much to eat:...
Monday, April 29, 2019
We are still half floating on clouds/half crashing at our desks in the aftermath of the 5th Annual United Way Children's Book Drive. We just cannot get over how many books were donated this year! 109,322 to be exact. That's incredible! We weren't sure we'd get to our goal of 100,000, but we certainly never dreamed we'd SURPASS our goal. Especially by over 10K!
It takes a lot of hands and hearts coming together to pull something of this magnitude off. The entire staff at United Way of Treasure Valley is honored to put this event on every...
Friday, April 5, 2019
“Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. “ -James A. Baldwin
For so many single moms, a never-ending battle wages between finding the time and energy to raise their kids, and the demands of working to generate a sustainable income to feed and house their families.
“The pressures of a single income and the high costs of childcare mean that the risk of poverty for these families is a tragic reality.” (source)
United Way knows the realities of poverty. We see it in our homeless student...
Friday, April 5, 2019
(Original article here)
This graph shows the Percentage of households led by a female householder with no spouse present with own children under 18 years living in the household in the U.S. in 2017, by state. In 2017, about 7.33 percent of Californian households were single mother households with at least one child.
Additional information on single mother households and poverty in the United States.
For most single mothers a constant battle persists between finding the time and energy to raise their children and the demands of working to...
Monday, April 1, 2019
At United Way of Treasure Valley, we know the vehicle out of poverty is education. But when you live in a single-parent home, and that parent works two jobs and can barely manage to get their child, let alone themselves out of bed in the mornings, making it to school just doesn’t always happen.
This is exactly what was happening to Matt.
Matt’s attendance was poor and his behavior began to suffer. As a consequence, recesses were taken away. Fortunately for Matt, mentoring programs in the Treasure Valley exist and target kids just like him...
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Original article here.
From birth to age 5, a child’s brain develops more than at any other time in life. And early brain development has a lasting impact on a child’s ability to learn and succeed in school and life. The quality of a child’s experiences in the first few years of life – positive or negative – helps shape how their brain develops.
90% of a Child’s Brain Develops By Age 5
At birth, the average baby’s brain is about a quarter of the size of the average adult brain. Incredibly, it doubles in size in the first year. It keeps...
