Friday, June 18th, White Park in downtown Riverside was host to our Annual Awards Celebration… no, it wasn’t a gala.  It was a picnic!  And the folks that stayed and played after the awards were handed out, said it was a marvelous event!  If you missed it, you really missed out.  There was sumo wrestling, pie eating contests (some likened it to a pie “throwing” contest), water balloon tossing, hula hooping, incredible face paintings and general unabashed fun!

Our Annual Report was presented and our board members and officers were confirmed. CEO Kevin McCarthy presented the CEO Award to Board Chair, John Worden for his tireless support of United Way of the Inland Valleys and our community.  Co-Campaign Chair, Ofelia Valdez-Yeager thanked her campaign team for their incredible effort this past year.

Some of the awards handed out that day include: The Most Creative Award which went to Abbott Vascular;  The Outstanding Labor Campaign Award to Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 121-RN; and The Education Award went to Murrieta Valley Unified School District.

Each year we recognize our Top Twenty best campaigns.  This year, the Most Outstanding trophy in that category went to J.C. Penney #2480 - Moreno Valley.  The Per Capita Platinum Plus Award (for the most given per person) went to our own United Way of the Inland Valleys and to Security Bank of California.

The Corporate Sponsorship Award went to Charter Communications for the incredible job they did in hosting the Live United 2010 Telethon.  The Leadership Giving Award went to United Parcel Service (UPS).  The Public Sector Award went to the California State Employees Charitable Campaign (CSECC).

The Goldware Family recognized the hard work and service of our co-campaign chairs, Ofelia Valdez-Yeager and Dr. Stan Scheer with their annual presentation of the B’nai B’rith Award. 

Ofelia Valdez-Yeager also announced the campaign total of $3,602,008.

The Community Action Partnership of Riverside County was honored with the Community Matters Award for their work in supporting financial stability in the community and for their support of United Way’s MoneyWork$ financial literacy initiative. The Partner Agency Award went to the Volunteer Center of Riverside County for their unflagging support to the United Way Campaign.

The Volunteer of the Year Award went to board member Linda Hanley for her incredible efforts to help United Way raise funds and deliver services to folks in the Pass Area.  Honorable Mentions went to Norma Sanchez and to Jeff Mummert.

The 2010-11 Campaign Chair, Andy Melendrez, Riverside City Councilman for Ward 2 was introduced and spoke of his vision for this year’s upcoming campaign.