May 20

February 12, 2002
UNITED WAY PRAISES AREA COMPANIES FOR CAMPAIGN WORK

• · Major Firms (more than 50 employees), $797,948;
• · Mid-sized Firms (fewer than 50 employees), $153,735;
• · Corporate Gift Accounts (United Way receives only a corporate gift), $26,662;
• · Community Organizations (government, schools, agencies), $135,702;
• · Community Individuals, $171,081;
• · BAE Systems, I.E.W.S., $1,232,230.

March 4,2002
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA PRESIDENT TO VISIT NASHUA

(Nashua, NH) -- WHO: Newly elected United Way of America President Brian Gallagher will address representatives of United Ways from throughout New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts, as well as key players in the region's social service network.WHAT: Mr. Gallagher's comments will center on a new vision for the future of United Way, and recommendations to strengthen the United Way System. The plan calls for United Way to focus on community impact as its sole priority.WHY: Change is necessary for the healthy life of any organization. A 21-member United Way of America task force that issued the recommendations is helping United Way to become as productive in the future as it has been in the past. The plan encourages all 1,400 community-based United Ways across the country to grow and adapt to the changing philanthropic environment.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 6, 2002
Mr. Gallagher's talk begins at 7:45 p.m. and will run approximately one hour.
WHERE: Nashua Marriott Hotel, 2200 Southwood Drive, Nashua, NH

May 7, 2002
HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY BY DONATING NON-PERISHABLE FOOD ITEMS

(Nashua, NH) -- - The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) in conjunction with the United States Postal Service, United Way, and the AFL-CIO, will be collecting non-perishable food items on Saturday, May 11, 2002, for distribution to area food banks.

Other major contributors are Campbell's Soup and United States Postal Service's Priority Mail.

If you live in the Nashua or Hudson area, please place a food donation by your mailbox on Saturday, May 11th. Your letter carrier will pick up and deliver the non-perishable items to a local food bank in your community.

Last year's drive was a big success with over 70.1 million pounds of food collected from families along postal routes in 10,000 cities and towns across America. This year the need is greater that ever with more than 30 million children, men and women suffering from hunger daily. This is your chance to make a difference in your community.

May 20, 2002
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS COME TOGETHER FOR COMMUNITY
by Ellin Carroll, Telegraph Publishing Company

(Nashua, NH) -- WHO: About 300 high school students from Greater Nashua, matched up with more than 30 area non-profit organizations. Opening ceremony speakers include Nashua Mayor Bernard Streeter and P-Jay Manley, a Nashua High School senior and member of the Boys & Girls Club of Nashua who recently was named Youth of the Year at both the municipal and state levels.

WHAT: United Way's Ninth Annual Youth Day of Caring will bring students from six area high schools into direct contact with local non-profit health and human service agencies that provide volunteer opportunities. Students will deliver meals to homebound elderly, assist at day care facilities, paint, clean, and perform other tasks as part of this hands-on learning experience.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 22, 2002. Kick-off celebration from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. (Formal ceremony is from 7:45 to 8 a.m.) Students will volunteer at area agencies from approximately 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Kick-off celebration is at New Hampshire Community Technical College, 505 Amherst Street, Nashua. Contact United Way for volunteering project locations.

WHY: To introduce students to the important roles that local health and human service agencies play in addressing critical community needs, and to set the stage for students to volunteer with these organizations in the future if they so wish.

(Nashua, NH) -- Approximately 300 volunteers from nearly 30 companies will spend this Wednesday, September 11, working at 32 non-profit agencies during United Way of Greater Nashua's 11th Annual Day of Caring. The event also serves as the kick-off for United Way's annual fund-raising campaign.

The day begins with a breakfast and brief ceremony at Anheuser-Busch in Merrimack, from 7:30 to 8 a.m., at which time the campaign goal will be announced.

Day of Caring volunteer opportunities include working with children, the elderly and disabled, construction, preparing and delivering Meals-on-Wheels, and various painting and landscaping projects. Volunteers receive a first-hand look at the services that agencies provide and the people whose lives are improved by United Way donations.

Day of Caring is made possible by financial support from Anheuser-Busch, Inc., BAE SYSTEMS, Fleet Bank, Southern New Hampshire Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, The Dow Chemical Company Foundation, and United Parcel Service. In-kind sponsors include Costco Wholesale, Dasani, Hannaford in Hudson, Hawk Catering, Nashua Wallpaper Company, Panera Bread, Stonyfield Farm, and Wal-Mart in Amherst.

United Way improves people's lives by supporting innovative health and human service programs that have positive, measurable outcomes. United Way of Greater Nashua serves Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Lyndeborough, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Nashua, and Wilton.

September 11, 2002
UNITED WAY'S 2002 CAMPAIGN FOCUSES ON IMPROVING LIVES

(Nashua, NH) -- In kicking off its 2002 fund-raising campaign today, United Way of Greater Nashua announced a goal of improving the lives of 2,000 additional participants of programs supported by its General Fund.

The people-oriented goal speaks to the heart of United Way's mission, according to Campaign Co-Chair Edward Zraket, vice president of operations for BAE SYSTEMS in Nashua.

"While raising money is an important part of what United Way does, it is not the most important," Zraket said. "United Way seeks to improve people's lives by mobilizing the caring power of our communities, and this year we're aiming to help more people in Greater Nashua than ever before."

During the past year, United Way's General Fund helped more than 50 health, human service, and community educational programs deliver services to 53,600 participants, many of whom benefited from more than one service. If United Way's 2002 Campaign is successful, Zraket said, its General Fund will be able to help 55,600 program participants in the coming year.

People who need help often require more than one type of service. For example, a family of three that needs transitional housing also may need subsidized childcare, counseling services, and reduced-cost health care. United Way's General Fund supports all of these programs and many more that help improve thousands of people's lives in its 11-community service area.

Zraket said that to extend services to 2,000 additional program participants this year, United Way needs 2,000 contributors to increase their gift to United Way's General Fund by $1 per week or 2,000 new contributors to make a gift of $1 per week to "The Fund."

A successful United Way campaign will improve the lives of thousands of people in Greater Nashua in many ways. For example:

• More services that enable seniors to live independently
• More services to working parents so they can ensure that their children are safe before and after school
• Meeting more basic needs - such as food, clothing, and shelter - for individuals and families in crisis.

In accordance with the goal of helping more General Fund program participants, United Way is replacing its large campaign thermometer displays - which tallied funds raised - with posters that focus on the people-oriented message: "Help Improve Lives in Our Communities. Support United Way."

"Money is a means to an end," Zraket explained. "Ultimately, we want to achieve community-wide impact by helping create solutions to our area's most pressing problems."

For information about supporting United Way of Greater Nashua, call 603-882-4011, or visit www.unitedwaynashua.org.

United Way improves people's lives by supporting innovative health and human service programs that have positive, measurable outcomes. United Way of Greater Nashua serves Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Lyndeborough, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Nashua, and Wilton.

September 12, 2002
BOOST AMERICA! TO LAUNCH IN NASHUA

(Nashua, NH) -- On Wednesday, September 18, eligible children and families can get a free booster seat through the Boost America! Program.

United Way of Greater Nashua, the Nashua Police Department, local agencies, child safety volunteers, and Ford Motor Company are working in conjunction to help put eligible children into life saving booster seats through Boost America!

Boost America! will launch in Nashua on Wednesday from noon to 4 p.m. at the Holman Stadium parking lot on Amherst Street.

The purpose of this nationwide program is to get children between the ages of four to eight into booster seats and to educate parents and caregivers about proper booster seat use. Many parents make the mistake of graduating their children from child safety seats into seatbelts too quickly. Booster seats can protect children from seatbelt injuries to the stomach and keep them from being ejected in a car crash. However, 95 percent of the children that should utilize these seats do not.

The function of a booster seat is to raise a child up so that the lap/shoulder belt fits them correctly. This five-step test by Safety Belt Safe U.S.A. can be used to determine whether or not a child is big enough to use a safety belt:

• Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?

• Do the knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?

• Is the lap belt on the top of the thighs?

• Is the shoulder belt centered on the shoulder and the chest?

• Can the child stay seated like this for the duration of the trip?

If a parent or guardian answers "no" to any of the above questions, then the child needs to be in a booster seat to ride safely in the vehicle.

To find out if a child and family are eligible for a free booster seat through the Boost America! program, call Maryann Zemke at United Way of Greater Nashua at 882-4011, or visit the WIC Office at Southern New Hampshire Services, 134 Allds Street, Nashua, and pick up a Boost America! child safety seat pre-screening voucher. Qualifying families must bring their pre-screening voucher, qualifying children, and vehicle to Holman Stadium on September 18 anytime between noon and 4 p.m.

For more information on Boost America!, visit the Boost America website.

October 29, 2002
REPORT TAKES NASHUA AREA'S PULSE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN CARE NEEDS

(Nashua, NH) --The most comprehensive look at the health and human care needs of Nashua area residents is now available through United Way of Greater Nashua.

Greater Nashua Measures Up: The 2002 Community Assessment, is a collaborative effort of local volunteers and organizations committed to making a difference in their communities. A 24-member steering committee managed the assessment process, which was convened by United Way and supported by BAE SYSTEMS, St. Joseph Hospital, and Southern New Hampshire Medical Center.

The 2002 report is the fifth assessment in 10 years and the first since 1999. Drawing from a wide range of information sources - including surveys of households and service providers, government data, agency statistics, and other research - the report identifies the top community issues for the 11-town region that makes up Greater Nashua.

Health issues figure prominently in the assessment. Respondents of both the household and provider surveys ranked affordability of medications and medical and dental insurance among the top five community issues. Other health-related issues that survey respondents said were "major" or "moderate" problems were affordable medical and dental care, and stress at work and at home.

As was the case in the 1999 assessment, providers ranked Affordable Housing as the Number One community issue (tied with Affordable Medications, a new category in the 2002 assessment). Household survey respondents ranked Affordable Housing as the second-greatest community concern. The rental vacancy rate in Greater Nashua is less than 1 percent, and the wait list for a two-bedroom apartment in public housing is approximately 24 months.

"While affordable housing, health care, and health insurance continue to be of significant concern, the report also identifies other leading issues that were not studied in previous assessments," said Daniel Guerrette, chairman of the Community Assessment Committee and vice president of human resources at Southern New Hampshire Health System. He noted that many household survey respondents identified the new categories of "High Levels of Stress at Work" and "Road Rage" as community issues of concern.

In other key findings, the assessment reports that:

• Nashua's teen birth rate for 1993-1997 was 20.5 per 1,000 live births - twice the rate of other Greater Nashua communities (9.3) and well above the state level (14.4).

• About 8 percent of area residents did not have health insurance as of October 2001. Nearly three of every four uninsured residents are either employed or in families where at least one family member works full-time.

• 23 percent of teens reported having had serious thoughts about suicide in the month before survey.

• An estimated 300 children are on the waiting lists at childcare facilities (as of 10/01).

• Nashua School District's drop-out rate for 2001 was 10.2%, higher than surrounding towns and nearly double the state rate of 5.4%. (Recent reports indicate that the rate fell to 4.6% in 2002.)

• While the area's population grew 14.1% between 1990 and 2000, the number of Hispanic (6,513) and Asian (4,478) residents in Greater Nashua doubled.

• Greater Nashua's unemployment rate was 5.5% in April 2002, compared with 4.4% statewide.

The report findings will be used by local agencies in developing grant proposals and strategic plans, community groups in determining annual projects, and United Way in setting priorities for investing Campaign contributions in health and human service programs that improve lives in our communities. United Way this year is taking the process a step further by inviting other local groups to work collaboratively on identifying and making a measurable difference on a limited number of the area's most pressing needs.

The report will be distributed to local companies, United Way donors, schools, libraries, government officials, and non-profit agencies. The report also may be downloaded from United Way's website: www.unitedwaynashua.org. To obtain a hard copy, call United Way at 603-882-4011.

United Way improves people's lives by supporting innovative health and human service programs that have positive, measurable outcomes. United Way of Greater Nashua serves Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Lyndeborough, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Nashua, and Wilton.

November 15, 2002
UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN NEARS HALFWAY POINT

(Nashua, NH) -- United Way of Greater Nashua is approaching the halfway point toward its 2002 Campaign goal of improving the lives of 55,600 participants of programs supported by its General Fund.

"With dollars contributed to the General Fund at this point in the Campaign, United Way will be able to help more than 22,700 General Fund program participants," said Edward Zraket, General Campaign Co-chair and Vice President of Operations for BAE SYSTEMS in Nashua. During the past year, United Way's General Fund helped more than 50 health, human service, and community educational programs deliver services to 53,600 participants, many of whom benefited from more than one service.

Zraket said that to extend services to 2,000 additional program participants this year, United Way needs 2,000 contributors to increase their gift to United Way's General Fund by $1 per week or 2,000 new contributors to make a gift of $1 per week to "The Fund." Contributions to the General Fund will be invested in programs that provide positive, measurable outcomes in the areas identified by the 2002 Community Assessment of health and human care needs, which United Way released last month.

For information about the recently published Community Assessment and programs supported by United Way's General Fund, log on to www.unitedwaynashua.org.