Author: Aviva Pinchas

Are you planning on booking your next spa treatment soon? milk + honey spas do it all, including: massages, facials, body treatments, and natural nail therapy. Men, milk + honey was voted Best Spa for Men in Austin! But wait! Don’t make an appointment without mentioning Give5! Mention Give5 when you make an appointment and 5% of your purchase will be donated to United Way Capital Area. Additionally, be sure to stop by milk+honey Spa and SALON on Monday, May 25th from 12noon – 2pm for an exclusive event, coupons and FREE gift certificates for Give5 attendees.

Be sure to stop by our neighbors, Bennu Coffee, any time during this Memorial Day weekend–and, we literally mean any time, because they are open 24/7. 5% of your purchase will go to help fund our programs. You can Give $5 right now, and learn more about Give5, at give5centraltexas.org.

Our friends at networkinaustin.com are participating in Give5! Build a better business network and give back to the community at the same time. Join NetworkinAustin as a new member between now and Memorial Day (May 15-25) and $10 will be donated back to United Way Capital Area. (Please type “Give5” in the ‘Referred By’ field.) And, we’ve added another Special Event, thanks to Touch of Sass: Sunday, May 24th, 2-4pm, Touch of Sass Don’t miss out on your chance to win a gift certificate package for dinner and a massage at the Four Seasons when you shop at Touch of Sass during this exclusive event for Give5 attendees! Check out the coupon book at give5centraltexas.org for more great ways to give back over Memorial Day Weekend, and don’t forget to Give $5! It’s secure, quick and easy!

Want to know where to shop this Memorial Day weekend? Have at your fingertips all of the Austin businesses who will be participating in Give5:

***Please take a moment to call or email the Senate Education Committee members below about quality, full-day pre-kindergarten for Texas children*** Before Thursday, contact the Senate Education Committee to say you support HB 130. The bill is scheduled to be heard by the committee at 8 a.m., May 14 in E1.028. Contact the members below and urge them to advance the quality pre-K bill out of committee. TECEC, the Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition, notes: “The benefits of high-quality pre-k have been widely recognized by education researchers, economists, and business professionals. …Investing in high-quality pre-k programs leads to fewer children entering the juvenile justice system, fewer special education referrals, less grade retention, decreased dropout rates, and reduced child welfare costs. Those facts come straight from Texas’ own Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. The conservative cost-benefit analysis found that every $1.00 invested in high quality pre-kindergarten programs returns at least $3.50 back to local communities.” Senate Education Committee Chair – Sen. Florence Shapiro: florence.shapiro@senate.state.tx.us (512) 463-0108Vice Chair – Sen. Dan Patrick: dan.patrick@senate.state.tx.us (512) 463-0107 Sen. Kip Averitt: kip.averitt@senate.state.tx.us (512) 463-012Sen. Wendy Davis: wendy.davis@senate.state.tx.us (512) 463-0110Sen. Mario Gallegos, Jr.: mario.gallegos@senate.state.tx.us (512) 463-0106Sen. Steve Ogden: steve.ogden@senate.state.tx.us (512) 463-0105Sen. Leticia Van de Putte: leticia.vandeputte@senate.state.tx.us (512) 463-0126Sen. Royce West: royce.west@senate.state.tx.us (512) 463-012Sen. Tommy Williams: tommy.williams@senate.state.tx.us (512) 463-0104

FILMS FOR A CAUSE FIND THEIR FESTIVAL Lights. Camera. Help., the premiere film festivalexclusively for non-profit and grassroots organizations, officiallyopened its submission process last week. Four prominent non-profit organizations, including United Way Capital Area showed their support for the festival by formally submitting their films at the Reel-to-Realityevent held at Southwest Key’s East Side Community Center. Representatives from the American Cancer Society, United Way Capital Area, theCapital Area Food Bank and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary spoke aboutthe value of the films-for-a-cause genre, showed trailers for theirfilms and then formally submitted their films. This is the first annual Lights. Camera. Help. festival, where filmsand videos with a cause directly related to a non-profit or grassroots organization will be evaluated on a rigorous criteria by a panelof judges. The films and videos will gain recognition by beingconsidered the best in one of several distinct categories. Proceedsfrom the event with go to the organization that is the subject of thewinning video. This festival is the first of its kind in the nation and reflects thespirit of Austin, a city with prominent non-profit, grassroots andactivism communities. Non-profits, grassroots organizations andfilmmakers will use the festival to spread the word about their cause,develop a community of followers, and expand the film-for-a-causegenre. It’s free to submit to Lights. Camera. Help. and any film or video iswelcome, so long as the emphasis of the video is on a non-profit orgrassroots organization. “We really wanted to make sure that every non-profit organization isable to tell its story, regardless of […]

As a part of Public Service Recognition Week, the Capital Area State Employee Charitable Campaign was recognized on May 7th with HCR 121 honoring their extraordinary success in raising $2.1 million for local, national and international charities during the 2008 campaign. The Capital Area State Employee Charitable Campaign is managed by United Way Capital Area. Despite these challenging economic times, some 8,000 state and higher education employees throughout Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lampasas, Lee, Llano, Mason, San Saba, Travis, and Williamson Counties donated to more than 600 charities statewide during the 2008 campaign. The resolution is authored by Representatives Maldonado and Senator Watson and is co-authored by Representatives Kleinschmidt, Rodriguez, Dukes, Strama, Aycock, Bolton, Gattis, Donna Howard, Naishtat and Rose. The Capital Area Local Employee Committee was in attendance when the resolution was passed. Congratulations Capital Area state and higher education employees for a job well done! For video of the House and Senate readings, click here– http://www.house.state.tx.us/media/chamber/81.htm See session 05/07/09 10:00 a.m.- 11:57 p.m. (on playback clock from 45:20 to 48:00).http://www.senate.state.tx.us/avarchive/ See session May 07 Senate Session (Part II) (on playback clock at 13:25 to 14:46).

Our friends at Austin Interfaith are working hard as advocates this legislative session to get bills passed and signed that will help keep our economy here in Central Texas strong. We’ve written several times about one of our important funded programs, Capital IDEA, which is a proven program to train workers in fields that are in-demand now, and in the future. Programs like Capital IDEA, on average, triple the earnings of low-income adults to $30,718 with benefits and a career path. Job retention rates average 92.8%. More than 9,000 adults have been placed in jobs through these projects throughout the state of Texas. The three bills that would create the “Jobs for Education for Texas” (JET) Fund are: HB1935 (Representative Villarreal), SB1313 (Senator Shapiro) and HB2812 (Representative Swinford). Passage and signing of these bills will fund proven programs like Capital IDEA through a $10 million competitive state grant program, to be administered by the Comptroller’s office. The Network of Texas IAF Organizations will hold a press conference on Tuesday, May 12th at 12:30pm to call on our lawmakers to pass and sign this important legislation. To learn more about the advocacy work of Austin Interfaith, visit their website.