Arrowhead United Way "Plants Seeds of Hope"

Arrowhead United Way recently hosted its Annual Meeting and Community Awards Breakfast at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino. The theme was “Planting Seeds of Hope," an inspirational message to encourage the community to share the good feeling of hope with everyone around them. Arrowhead United Way honors everyday people in the community that are helping to improve the lives of others. The April 8 breakfast was dedicated to the memory of Colonel Paul Green, a Tuskegee Airman and Norton Air Force Base commander who recently died at the age of 91. Colonel Green was a long-time supporter of Arrowhead United Way and an inspiration to those that were fortunate enough to meet him. The breakfast was well attended with approximately 260 local city officials, school district administrators, non-profit agencies and community supporters. The morning started with an explosive step performance from the San Gorgonio Black Student Union Step Team. They chanted about hope can make them achieve great things. As Arrowhead United Way continued to Plant Seeds of Hope they announced their 2015/2016 board members, new and returning. New members joining for a three-year term are Daniel Sandoval of Target, Keith Lee retiree from County of San Bernardino and Gwendolyn Rodgers of EMQ FamiliesFirst. Boards members returning for an additional three-year term are Mat Fratus from City of Rialto Fire, Arlene Garcia of Inland Empire Job Corps, Steven Kovensky of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Kevin Lang of Loma Linda University Health and Michael Rivera of Gresham Savage. The slate of officers are as follows: Chair – Michael Montano – Mitla Café, Vice Chair Resource Development – Arlene Garcia – Inland Empire Job Corps; Vice Chair Community Impact – Rachel Weiss – CSUSB, Vice Chair Finance – David Marion – Smith Marion & Co., Secretary – Michael Rivera– Gresham Savageand Past Chair – Brian Townsend – Precinct Reporter. Arrowhead United Way has eight perpetual campaign trophies that rotate between different companies every year. The winner of this year’s perpetual trophies are as follows: Outstanding Education Campaign – San Bernardino Unified School District; Campaign Leadership (4) – Enterprise Rent-A-Car, FedEx Corporation, UPS, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Edison International Campaign Leadership – BNSF Railway; Outstanding Community Campaign Leadership – Target; and Outstanding State Charitable Campaign – Patton State Hospital. Arrowhead United Way also gave plaques to companies that have had strong campaigns throughout the year 2014/2015 campaign year. These plaques are given out for two categories, “Campaign Gold” and “Campaign Silver”. Campaign Gold winners are as follows: Bank of America, Costco Wholesale, County of San Bernardino, Southern California Edison and Kaiser Permanente. Campaign Silver winners were: California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB), Colton Joint Unified School District, Employment Development Agency, Gresham Savage, Loma Linda University Health, McLane Southern California and Rialto Unified School District. Apart from celebrating successful fundraising campaigns, Arrowhead United Way also celebrates its community partners by recognizing those companies and individuals that have gone beyond the call of duty. This year Medline Industries, Inc.received a Community Leadership Award for providing Arrowhead United Way with over $300,000 of in-kind goods to be distributed to local non-profit agencies. San Bernardino Employment & Training Agency also received a Community Leadership Award for its unwavering assistance in the execution of Arrowhead United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council’s Interview for Success program. They also honored their loaned executive Deputy Sheriff Shelby Swanson from the County of San Bernardino County Sheriff Department. Swanson was on loan to Arrowhead United Way for the Fall of 2014. In her role she assisted in making presentations to her fellow county employees to encourage their support of Arrowhead United Way. Lastly, Dr. Carolyn Eggleston of CSUSB received the Women’s Leadership Award as the Chair of the Arrowhead United Way Woman’s Leadership Council. Dr. Eggleston was honored for her hard work and leadership as a member of the council.