The commonwealth’s annual COMECC campaign runs from Nov. 10 through Nov. 26. Year after year, UMMS employees are the most generous in the state, contributing to worthy causes that help our neighbors and communities. Last year, UMMS employees were the single largest source of donations among all state institutions, contributing nearly 25 percent of the total amount raised statewide.
Through COMECC, donors can direct their contributions to any of more than 1,000 screened local, regional, national and international nonprofits, dedicated to a wide range of mission areas including education, health, homelessness, veterans, the environment and medical research. This year organizers have set an ambitious goal for UMMS employees to contribute $400,000 to the charities and nonprofits of their choice.
All contributions, regardless of size, truly make a difference. A donation of just one or two dollars per pay period can fund half an hour of clinical services for adults with disabilities or send two children with epilepsy to a morning of summer camp. Larger bi-weekly donations of $10 can provide 10 children with afterschool programs that give them physical activity, mentoring and homework help, and $50 can fund a month of food for a malnourished child.
Consider Angelica, whose life changed with help from Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance’s POWER Program, an individualized job-training program for families in homeless shelters funded by the United Way of Central Massachusetts. When she entered the POWER program, Angelica was a young homeless mother who felt helpless. With support from POWER, she has developed career skills, opened a bank account, obtained a job at Reliant Medical Group and is attending her last year of college. Today, Angelica is self-sufficient and is living in an apartment with her daughter. Her description of the POWER program demonstrates the power of your generosity.
“They didn’t look at me like I was just another homeless person not trying, a mother who wanted to live off the government,” said Angelica. “That’s not who I am and not how I saw my life with my daughter. She has been so sweet and so special and she is now able to do things that kids her age should be able to do and she can say I have a home and I have toys to play with and books to read.”
“We recognize that our community looks to us as a leader,” said Chancellor Michael F. Collins. “Each and every one of us, through participation in COMECC, can exhibit leadership by demonstrating that we care and give back to our community in meaningful ways.”
Chancellor Collins has named two campus leaders to serve as honorary co-chairs for the 2014 COMECC campaign: Joyce A. Murphy, MPA, executive vice chancellor of Commonwealth Medicine, and Allan S. Jacobson, PhD, the Gerald L. Haidak, MD, and Zelda S. Haidak Professor of Cell Biology and chair and professor of microbiology & physiological systems.
“If you don’t have a charity in mind, please consider your local United Way, which coordinates charity with local communities and nonprofits across Massachusetts, or the UMass Memorial Foundation, which supports research and education at UMass Medical School and UMass Memorial Health Care,” said James B. Leary, Esq., vice chancellor for community and government relations.
You can donate by completing a simple form provided by your department’s COMECC team leader, or online at www.comecc.net. Your employee ID number is required to pledge online, and can be found on your pay stub on the HR Direct website.
All employees who donate will be entered into a raffle for prizes including gift cards, Hanover Theatre ticket coupons, a month of free parking and an iPad mini.
