Costume contest brings fun into the workplace, raises money for community

We were treated to a Halloween Costume Contest at Marshfield Furniture.

What a sight to see: 23 employees from throughout the company put on their Halloween best and invited Drive Chair John Baur to judge the contest, as a special event for their workplace campaign.

First place went to a striking blond (Left). Chris said his costume was a collection of items left by a former girlfriend. He said he’d like to have worn high heeled shoes, but couldn’t find any with safety toes.

Second place went to Frosty the Snowman as portrayed by Carolyn. Hopefully Carolyn didn’t melt before the day was over!

Pictured below, a group shot of all the Marshfield Furniture employees who dressed up for the occasion.

From left: Standing: a jockey, Dracula's bride, a doctor, a striking blond, Marshfield Furniture's Mascot (a cardinal), laundry basket, Frosty the Snowman, Minnie Mouse, a faceless villian, a Roman goddess, the villian from Saw, an axe murder, a packer fan and the sheriff.

Kneeling: a pretty witch, a jester, a disco dancer, Ugly Betty, bedtime toddler, and "I woke up late today."

Great job everyone! We hope you enjoyed dressing up as much as we enjoyed visiting and seeing all the great costumes.

United Way grants emergency funds to feed area families

Shelves at Soup Or Socks (SOS) food pantry will be restocked soon, a relief for area families. In response to SOS’s shortage, Marshfield Area United Way took urgent action to grant emergency funds to replenish food supplies in the pantry.

At last week’s Vision Council, Cheryl Hartl, SOS program director, reported the use of her program had increased and supplies were steadily decreasing.

“We have had 200 more people using the pantry as compared to last year. Usage is up and supplies are down,” Hartl said at the Vision Council.

“I called Cheryl after the Vision Council and suggested she submit a grant request to receive supplemental funding to hold her over until upcoming food drives, said Sarah Krenn, community impact coordinator.

But as the week progressed and United Way staff continued discussing SOS’s need, it became clear that action needed to be taken right now.

United Way’s grant deadline is November 1 and Executive Director Kim Baltus and Krenn were concerned Hartl wouldn’t receive the money soon enough. After a grant is submitted, it needs to be reviewed by the Community Impact Committee and approved by the Board. A funding check wouldn’t be issued until the week of Thanksgiving.

“We needed to take immediate steps to ensure the program could continue to serve our residents,” said Baltus.

“Cheryl and I spoke about the program’s options, and issuing this emergency grant for $5,000 was the best way to address this need and get them through December 31, 2007. We didn’t want the program to continue in this deficit or run out of food again in late December,” Krenn said.

Marshfield Area United Way’s quick response to make a great community impact was because of the generosity of last year’s contributions to its annual campaign. To help United Way continue its work with programs in our community, like Soup Or Socks, you can contributed to its 2007 campaign by giving through your workplace, call the United Way office at 384-9992 or visit marshfieldareaunitedway.org.

Decorating heroes add flair and creativity to Figi's, Inc.'s campaign

Figi’s, Inc. employees broke out their creative sides for the department decorating contest. “Last year everyone did such a wonderful job, but after walking around to look at each department’s decorating … I had rewrite my speech (for tomorrow’s presentation)!”

Decorations this year were encouraged to follow the theme “Heroes Among Us” and incorporate United Way. After visiting all the locations, the Figi’s United Way committee, which served as judges, had a hard time choosing winners.

One department recreated Marshfield in cardboard (Right)--including the Figi's building, city hall, and buildings where United Way Partner Programs are located. A "bus" greeted us at the entrance to take the United Way tour (Left).

Marketing transformed their space into a Gallery of Heroes, complete with mood lighting, a snack for the judges and displays with real-life heroes in our country. (Left, Gallery of Heroes Sign at entrance of display).

Pictured at right, a display representing United Way Partner Program, Kiddie Kaboose. The department responsible for this display used their space to showcase many Partner Programs including: Girl Scouts, Youth Net, Big Brothers Big Sisters, United Way's 2-1-1 and more!

We were also treated to another type of gallery of heroes--but these heroes hit a little closer to home. The walls were lined with uniforms from service men and women related to the employees. (Left)

Another section of this area was dedicated to every day heroes such as nurses, firefighters, police officers and more. (Right)

Superheroes also made a couple appearances. In the Executive Offices, a display showcased 101 Ways to Care and familiar faces dressed as favorite caped crusaders. (Left)

Pictured at right, this department brought patriotism to their decorating with red, white and blue color scheme. Hanging from the ceiling is the name of each Partner Program printed on a card and the balloons have the name of the employees in the department. Hershey "Hero" candy bars were placed on the table. (It never hurts to bribe the judges with chocolate and other treats. Many of the departments embraced this idea.)

Accounting placed their employees in capes as well. Printed pictures were hung from the ceiling with a cape and name of a Partner Program on the shield. (Left) They also did a little homework and found each program's funding amount for 2007 and placed checks around the department depicting how much money goes to each program.

It was a creative and informational way to utilize the theme and incorporate United Way.

Another great idea many of the departments had were to collect donations of nonperishable foods for the local food pantry and United Way Program, Soup Or Socks. (Right)

Information Systems created a haunted spooktacular by closing off their space with black curtains and set a perfect atmosphere with spooky music and fog! Pictured at left, a skeleton demonstrates the importance of maintaining a good dental hygiene. Many of the Partner Programs received this haunted makeover including: Boy Scouts, Red Cross, Kiddie Kaboose and more!

Thank you Figi’s, Inc. and all the employees who participated in this fun, creative event! It was such a pleasure for United Way staff and Drive Chairs to visit these amazing transformed spaces.