Children's Holiday Party: When UPO held our 30th annual party, dignitaries joined our staff and volunteers in the huge Catholic University ballroom. Mr. & Mrs. Claus listened to whispered requests, then our partner, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, joined the fun. The 250 children had a blast singing, dancing, playing, and eating…and each one left with a bag of toys! - see attached file for great pictures! Each year this annual party is generously sponsored by corporations and individuals who open up their hearts to provide holiday cheer for social economically disadvantaged DC children.
Each one of you must be celebrating the season with your family and friends and we at UPO wish you all, good friends of UPO, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
During the past year UPO Foster Grandparents gave over 180,000 volunteer hours, serving over 15,000 social economically disadvantaged children at 60 volunteer sites in Washington, DC including Early Head Start/Head Start centers, Elementary Schools and Children's Hospitals. Volunteers engaged in tutoring, mentoring, social emotional support and assisting students in learning programs in cooperation with school systems. Proven outcomes are improved school readiness and K-12 success. As 2019 comes to an end 2020 commences in a week's time our FGP volunteers are committed to generously embark on the challenges ahead.
Your generous support of the UPO FGPs Program this past year has helped us to fund the cost of training, materials, uniforms, and daily travel reimbursement for our FG Parents. We urgently need to refill the coffers to ensure sufficient funding for 2020. Right now with one week of 2019 remaining there are two giving options available to you. Both will benefit UPO's Foster Grandparent Program and whichever you choose, will have a financial benefits to you:
You know your circumstances. Your gift, made either way, will provide you with the warm pleasure of giving to help other less fortunate than you. The UPO Family wishes you a Happy, Healthy and Successful New Year for 2020!
Corporation for National and Community Service – Senior Corps – Foster Grandparent Program (CNCS), a Federal agency, provides grants to qualified agencies and organizations for the dual purpose of engaging persons 55 or older, with limited incomes, in volunteer service to meet critical community needs and to provide a high quality volunteer experience that will enrich the lives of the volunteers. Program funds are used to support Foster Grandparents in providing supportive, person to person service to children with exceptional or special needs.
UPO’s Foster Grandparent Program (FGP), which is funded by CNCS, provides volunteer opportunities for 200 low-income Washington DC senior volunteer Foster Grandparents who daily, weekly and monthly, provide critical mentoring and emotional support to District children in a variety of local settings. The program operates at 60 locations in the Washington DC and includes early education centers, public and charter schools, before and after-school programs, youth programs and hospitals. Annually they put in more than 180,000 volunteer service hours – working one-on-one or in small groups mentoring more than 15,000 DC children.
The funding UPO’s FGP receives from CNCS does not cover the cost of training, materials, uniforms, and daily travel for our senior FGP volunteers enabling us to support them in their generous labor of love. We also seek additional funding to accommodate a waiting list of 100 seniors volunteering to be Foster Grandparents, 10 educational institutions who are seeking to join the program and every current partnering volunteer site is requesting additional Foster Grandparents.
Our generous donors to Support UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program have donated more than $5,000 to-date to supplement the additional funding needs and we thank you all sincerely for your support.
Our challenge has always been how to make a budget pay for the ongoing need for training, materials, uniforms, and daily travel for our senior FGP volunteers. During the past several months we have been encouraging our donors to please consider a monthly recurring donation to provide a continuous flow of funds for all of the things we want to do for our senior FGP volunteers? An inflow of recurring donations will help UPO set a budget for funding the cost of training, materials, uniforms, and daily travel for our senior FGP volunteers We have seen a small increase in recurring donations but we need more support!
Global Giving’s 100% MATCHING CAMPAIGN for new monthly recurring donations to Support UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program will be continuing to run until December 31, 2019. Global Giving will match your first month's gift 100% to jump start your impact. Please consider committing $5, $10, $25 or even $50 monthly to Support UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program.
Receiving more monthly support will enable us to spend less time fundraising and more time focusing on the work of love we do to taking care of our customers’ needs.
Links:
As we reported three months ago the Project Director of United Planning Organization’s nationally recognized Foster Grandparent Program was contacted by VOA Eurasia Division Voice of America to do a story on UPO’s Foster Grandparent Program for airing in Europe and Asia. The piece focuses on our work at DCPS and Eagle Academy.The video follows the Grandparents in the course of a day.
UPO is pleased to show the partnerships of community, schools and volunteers in shaping the educational experiences of children in the hardest to serve areas. We are putting a positive face on the African-American community in countries that don’t often get positive imagery of our experience in America. Additionally the children featured will forever see themselves a part of a global community and international ambassadors – what a difference will it make in their young lives. The video is now currently being shown in Russian, Ukrainian and English.
Dear supporters of UPO’s Foster Grandparent Program we are so proud of our 200 low-income Washington DC senior volunteer Foster Grandparents who daily, weekly and monthly, provide critical mentoring and emotional support to District children in a variety of local settings. The program operates at 60 locations in the District of Columbia and includes early education centers, public and charter schools, before and after-school programs, youth programs and hospitals. Annually they put in more than 180,000 volunteer service hours – working one-on-one or in small groups mentoring more than 15,000 DC children.
When CBS recently began a series of stories on “A More Perfect Union,” the network was eager to shine a light on the love and learning at the heart of UPO’s Foster Grandparent Program. See the attached video clearly illustrating how our Foster Grandparent volunteers share their love working with the children in the classrooms.
You have all been generous donors, your funding helps us to cover the cost of training, materials, uniforms, and daily travel for our senior FGP volunteers enabling us to support them in their generous labor of love. In addition we have a waiting list of 100 seniors volunteering to be Foster Grandparents, 10 educational institutions are seeking to join the program and every current partnering volunteer site is requesting additional Foster Grandparents.
The timing could not be more perfect;
GlobalGiving has announced one of its biggest Bonus Days ever Thursday July 18, 2019 from 09:00:00 ET to 23:59:59 ET with $250,000 in matching funds available during the campaign:
Donations of $100 - $499 will be matched at 15%
Donations of $500 - $749 USD will be matched at 30%
Donations of $750 - $1,000 USD will be matched at 50%
A perfect opportunity to secure much needed funding to take UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program to the next level! Thank you for your continued generous support.
Links:
Cheryl Christmas, Project Director of UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program, announced last week that approximately a month ago the UPO Foster Grandparent Program was contacted by VOA Eurasia Division Voice of America to do a story on the Foster Grandparent Program for airing in Europe and Asia. The piece focuses on our work at DCPS Ann Beers – Grandma Sandra Woods and Eagle Academy – Grandpa Ronald Lewis. The video follows the Grandparents in the course of a day.
UPO is pleased to show the partnerships of community, schools and volunteers in shaping the educational experiences of children in the hardest to serve areas. We are putting a positive face on the African-American community in countries that don’t often get positive imagery of our experience in America. Additionally the children featured will forever see themselves a part of a global community and international ambassadors – what difference will it make in their young lives….
See the first piece published in Russian and released on March 27, 2019 at the attached link.
As reported to you last month Ms. Christmas recently joined the Senior Corps Steering Committee of the Corporation for National & Community Service, the organization that runs the nationwide Foster Grandparent network. In a short space of time the excellence of UPO’s FGP has caught the attention of Voice of America, the largest U.S. international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content in more than 40 languages which it distributes to affiliate stations around the globe. It is primarily viewed by foreign audiences, so VOA programming has an influence on public opinion abroad regarding the United States and its leadership.
UPO's Foster Grandparents Program provides critical mentoring and tutoring services daily to DC children from birth to 21 years of age in a variety of local settings. Your support over the past 3 years has helped to cover the cost of training, materials, uniforms, and daily travel for more than 200 low-income DC senior volunteer FGPs. The program improves the long-term health and well-being of senior volunteers and circulates seventy cents of every program dollar into the local low-income DC communities that our volunteers and students reside. With a mission to Unite People with Opportunities, UPO's Foster Grandparents offer the right mix of academic acumen and nurturing and give much needed attention to over 15,000 low-income children in Washington, DC.
Your continuous generous donations, and the support of your family, friends and associates will help the UPO Foster Grandparents Program, nationally recognized, and now becoming internationally recognized, as one of the pacesetters in the field, meet all these additional needs.
Please Support UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program and share the news of the program’s success via social media and email.
Links:
UPO's Foster Grandparents (FGP) Program trains low-income Washington DC senior volunteers to provide critical mentoring and emotional support to District children in a variety of local settings. The program operates at 60 locations in the District of Columbia and includes early education centers, public and charter schools, before and after-school programs, youth programs and hospitals.
Annually, more than 200 Foster Grandparents put in more than 175,000 volunteer service hours – working one-on-one or in small groups mentoring more than 15,000 DC children.
Foster Grandparents serve where the need is the greatest and because of this, our youth receive tremendous academic benefits alongside life-changing personal development. The program provides fulfilling volunteer service opportunities for seniors 55 years and older giving them an opportunity to give back by sharing their experience and wisdom with children who value and cherish the lessons.
The Foster Grandparents Program sponsored by UPO is funded by the Corporation for National & Community Service Senior Corps (CNCS). CNCS, a Federal Government Program that provides grants to organizations committed to strengthening their communities through volunteer programs. Cheryl Christmas, Project Director of UPO’s Foster Grandparents program, which is considered to be one of the exemplary FGP programs in the country, has recently joined the CNCS Steering Committee and will sharing UPO’s successful strategies with colleagues across the country.
The funds raised by Support UPO's Foster Grandparents Program helps us to cover the cost of training, materials, uniforms, and daily travel for more than 200 low-income DC senior volunteer FGPs. These expenses are not covered by CNCS.
From April 8-12, GlobalGiving will match donations up to $50 at 50%, with $50,000 in matching funds available. UPO through the tremendous support of our donors has earned GG Superstar Reward Status and will be awarded an additional 10% match on eligible donations!
This wil be our week to celebrate the power of the crowd and demonstrate that small donations add up to BIG change! See how much your gift of up to $50 can help! A gift of $50, will earn a $30 match, becoming $80!
So please take a moment to renew your Support of UPO's Foster Grandparents Program by making a “Little” donation to our Little by Little Matching Campaign, which will run from 9:00 am EDT on Monday, April 8, 2019, to11:59 pm EDT on Friday, April 12, 2019.
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