David Bonnerup, Touch a Life

United Way of Freeborn County, like many organizations, has a mission statement. It states &8220;the mission of the United Way of Freeborn County is to increase the organized capacity of people to care for one another.&8221;

Early in September nine people did just that, they organized a work group and spent a day helping victims of the flooding near Rushford.

Emil Angelica, author of Crafting Effective Mission & Vision Statements, states in his book that he &8220;believes that a good mission statement is a short, snappy statement of the purpose of the organization.&8221;

Two parts of the United Way&8217;s mission statement are evident in the actions of this group, organized capacity and people to care for one another. The group of volunteers that boarded the Cedar Valley Services bus early on Sept. 7 was a diverse group that was organized by United Way board member Troy Irvine. The group members did not all know each other, but they had one thing in common, they all cared about others and wanted to help.

Troy&8217;s comments to me the week before, as we were discussing the flood, were short and direct, &8220;we have to do something.&8221;

A few phone calls later we had a project to work on and a list of volunteers to spend the day working. The group were Troy Irvine, Brad Wedge, Kim Nelson, Deb Kenison, Corinne Applegate, Garry Hart, Sherri Hird, Larry Irvine, Vicky Helland and Dave Bonnerup.

Angelica also states that a good mission statement &8220;inspires and challenges&8221; and that people &8220;must believe they can accomplish it.&8221; There was no doubt on the drive to the Whispering Hills Girl Scout Camp that the group was inspired, but there were doubts about the challenge ahead and whether we could accomplish it. Driving through the destruction in the city of Rushford brought the lighthearted conversations in the van to an eerie silence; suddenly, the impact of the flooding was all around us. The challenge that we could make a difference in light of the amount of work to be done seemed insurmountable; there were only nine of us.

We arrived at the camp and were greeted by the caretaker, Dean Bloomquist. He gave us directions and had us clearing the stream of debris, logs, and brush deposited from the flood. We spent the day slogging in ankle deep water, loading, and unloading trailers, and eventually clearing a couple hundred feet of the stream.

Bloomquist thanked us and commented several times that we did not know how many lives we had touched by our efforts. The ride back to Albert Lea was livelier than the trip over, we had made new friends, we had worked hard, and we knew that we had helped our neighbors.

The challenge of the mission statement to help flood victims was met by not only the work group, but by many who attended the United Way kickoff and the Board of Directors. Those attending the kickoff were asked to help the flood victims by dropping any spare change they had in the &8220;Change a Life&8221; buckets on the tables. More than $139 was given, and then the board of directors added to this to send $500 to the United Ways of Minnesota Challenge Grant Disaster Relief SE Minnesota. They matched the $500 and sent $1,000 to the United Way Flood Recovery Fund established to assist victims of the flooding with long-term needs.

Troy Irvine&8217;s statement &8220;we have to do something&8221; led nine people to volunteer for a day and people&8217;s generosity turned $139 in change into $1,000 for the flood recovery fund. What a good example of living the United Way mission, &8220;to increase the organized capacity of people to care for one another.&8221; What a great example of accomplishing the 2007 campaign theme, &8220;Touch a Life.&8221; What amazing people live in Freeborn County.

David Bonnerup is the executive director for United Way of Freeborn County.