September/October 2016
Information for UCT’s Members and Councils
CONTACT US:
Sandy Shafer,
Vice President, Fraternal
800.848.0123, Ext. 146
[email protected]
Keith Ward, Community
Outreach Manager
502.758.4280
[email protected]
Jen Szymczak, Community
Outreach Manager
800.848.0123, Ext. 207
910.233.2483
[email protected]
Linda Fisher, Public
Relations Manager
800.848.0123, Ext. 130
[email protected]
Ann Marshall,
Fraternal Coordinator
800.848.0123, Ext. 126
[email protected]
Fraternal Council 380 in Jackson, Ohio,
wins UCT Photo Contest!
A BIG congrats to
Fraternal Council
380 in Jackson, Ohio,
whose photo of
members assembling
personal care packages
for the Jackson
County Homelessness
Committee to
distribute to area
homeless individuals
is the $500 winner of
the July-September
quarter of the UCT
Photo Contest!
In addition to this project, the council
had a busy summer delivering food and
toys to the Jackson County Dog Pound,
buying and boxing up craft supplies for
students at Child’s Garden Day Care, and
collecting books for Kosair Charities.
Stay connected with UCT:
UCT.org
UCT.org/UCTinAction
Facebook.com/UCTinAction
YouTube.com/UCTinAction
Flickr.com/UCTinAction
The October-December quarter of the
photo contest is the last one of the year –
and submissions are being accepted until
Oct. 31., so send us yours today! Remember,
you may submit up to five photos, and you
can email them to [email protected].
Try to make sure your photos are of
different volunteer activities or events, if
possible. Limit group shots to five people
or less – and get good, clear photos of
members volunteering or of individuals
benefiting from your council’s sponsorship.
For more tips, go to UCT Photo Contest on
the Member’s Area of our website at
www.uct.org.
Note: It looks like January 2017
might bring a new contest that will
give more councils more chances to
win, so stay tuned for details to come!
Nominate a
member for
the Volunteer
of the Year
Award!
It’s never too early to
nominate a member
for the UCT Volunteer
of the Year Award!
Award guidelines
and applications will
be sent quarterly
to all local council
secretaries and
members with email
addresses. They can
also be downloaded
from Volunteer of the
Year on the Member’s
Area of our website
at www.uct.org.
Contact the Public
Relations Department
at [email protected] or
at 800.848.0123 x130,
with any questions.
6th annual UCT Winter
Hockey Festival coming up!
The 6th annual UCT Winter Hockey
Festival for special hockey programs is
headed back to Valencia, California! We’re
expecting teams from throughout the
U.S. and parts of Canada to turn out to
participate in games Jan. 13-15, 2017, at
the Ice Station Valencia, the premiere ice
facility in Southern California.
Though average temperatures for
Southern California in January is a balmy
70 degrees, hosting an ice hockey festival
requires ice – and renting ice time isn’t
inexpensive.You and your council can
help by becoming festival sponsors! Just
choose the sponsorship level that works
for you and/or your council and send your
donation to the home office by
Dec. 1, 2016. Sponsors will be recognized
in the official 2017 UCT Winter Hockey
Festival program and during the festival.
Sponsorship levels include:
●● $500 - Center Ice Sponsor
●● $350 - Red Line Sponsor
●● $200 - Blue Line Sponsor
●● $100 - Penalty Box Sponsor
Your support will help make this
year’s festival another memorable
event for athletes with developmental
and intellectual disabilities. Send your
contribution by Dec. 1, 2016, to: UCT,
c/o Sandy Shafer, 1801 Watermark Drive,
Suite 100, Columbus, Ohio 43215.
Contact Sandy at [email protected] or at
800.848.0123 x146, with any questions.
UCT Gives Back AGAIN video contest
for schools coming AGAIN soon!
In 2013 UCT awarded $10,000 to a
program for students with intellectual
disabilities at Galax Elementary
School in Galax,Virginia, through its
UCT Gives Back video contest.The
following year we gave $10,000 to a
similar program at Eldon High School
in Eldon, Missouri, and $5,000 to St.
Raphael Catholic Elementary School
in Sudbury, Ontario.
Finally, following up on that
success, we’ll soon be calling for
entries from schools, colleges, and
universities in North America with programs for individuals
with intellectual disabilities for our 2017 UCT Gives Back
AGAIN contest! AGAIN, we’ll be giving away two prizes – a
$10,000 first place award and a $5,000 second place award.
AGAIN, the contest will be open to schools with programs
for individuals with intellectual disabilities as well as colleges
and universities with classes to train special education
teachers that could use some financial help to keep their
programs or classes relevant and effective.
AGAIN, the UCT Gives Back AGAIN
contest will be easy to enter:
●● Create a short video up to 2 ½ minutes long about
their program
●● The video doesn’t need to be professionally filmed
- use a video camera or phone and keep it simple
●● Explain how the $10,000 would help their program
●● Submit their video between Feb. 15-March 15,
2017, for their chance to win $10,000 or $5,000
Video finalists will be posted
on UCT’s Facebook page March
27-April 21, 2017, for followers to
vote on the winners.The winning
schools will be announced and
awarded the $10,000, and $5,000
cash prizes in May 2017.
Helping people with
intellectual and developmental
disabilities has been UCT’s
number one community service
project for over 50 years. UCT
Gives Back AGAIN is one more
way to make a difference. If you
know of schools, colleges or
universities in your area that
might be eligible, please let
them know about the contest
– more details and materials
will coming soon! If you have
questions, contact Sandy
Shafer at [email protected] or at
800.848.0123 x146.
If you’re a UCT
member faced
with a catastrophe
and find yourself
unable to
provide the basic
necessities like
food, clothing or
shelter for you
and your family,
contact your local
council secretary
for assistance
through the
disaster relief
benefit. If you
can’t get in touch
with your local
secretary, contact
Ann Marshall at
[email protected]
or at 800.848.0123
x126 for help.
For more details about
the UCT Disaster Relief
Benefit, visit the Benefits
& Discounts for Members
under the Join UCT menu
on our website at
www.uct.org.
UCT is there to help too in the form of our
UCT Disaster Relief Benefit, which provides
possible financial assistance in the event of a
major disaster to a member’s home like a flood,
fire or tornado.The benefit isn’t a part of an
insurance contract and doesn’t serve as a type
of flood or fire insurance. It’s a benefit designed
to provide one-time immediate financial help
to members in need of essentials in the wake of
a disaster. Local councils decide how much to
contribute, and the UCT home office matches
that amount up to $150.
Photo courtesy of Steve Desselles
UCT’s disaster relief
benefit is helping
Baton Rouge –
and you can too
Last month a devastating storm delivered
a sucker punch to the gut of Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, and its suburbs, a city already reeling
from the shooting of Alton Sterling and a lone
gunman’s subsequent killing of three law
enforcement officers. Over 2 feet of rain in less
than 72 hours resulted in 13 people dead and
more than 55,000 homes flooded.
The floodwaters have finally receded and
neighborhoods are beginning to dry, but
residents have been tormented by quickstrike afternoon thunderstorms and sauna-like
conditions, frustrating and slowing down the
long slog toward recovery.
“We’ve all had our time to cry, that’s for
sure,” said UCT Past International President and
secretary-treasurer of Baton Rouge Council 499
Randy Young, who is thankful that the flood
waters stopped just four feet short of his home
on the side of a hill in Baton Rouge.“When I see
the gutted and waterlogged homes of friends
and family and neighbors, I realize how lucky
I am.We all just
want to get
back to normal,
whatever normal
will be like
after this.”
Indeed,
recovering from
such a disaster
can be a long
and complicated
process. But, as
the people of
Louisiana showed
in the aftermath
of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, resilience and a
sense of community spirit prevail.This spirit has
shown itself in a community coming together
to volunteer at shelters, lend muscle to gut
damaged homes and donate millions of dollars
to scores of post-storm relief funds.
Randy has been a driving force in helping
fellow UCT members attain the disaster relief
they’re entitled to. Determined to track down
every one of the 600 members of Baton Rouge
Council 499, he spends his days contacting
members, filling out paperwork, and cutting
and distributing relief checks. He estimates
that Council 499 has already provided at least
$3,000 worth of relief and figures that amount
will easily double before his efforts are finished.
“The average individual or family loss due
to damage is around $100,000,” he explained.
“Now, UCT certainly can’t cover those kinds of
costs – no organization can. But through our
council we can contribute enough to allow
members to purchase basics like groceries or
clothes or find temporary shelter, and right now
that means a lot to people who have lost just
about everything.
Right now everything is really scrambled,
he continued, but we’re going to make it. I see
this flood as a sort of divine intervention. Before
the flood we were dealing with shootings and
protests and an awful kind of division. Now, for
the most part, everyone’s working together.
Now, we’re getting back to being people
helping people like we were before.”
If you or local council would like
to help Council 499’s efforts to
assist members, you can make a
donation to the local council at:
Baton Rouge Council 499
11175 Florida Blvd.
Baton Rouge, LA 70815.
If you have questions, feel
free to contact Randy at
[email protected] or at
225.275.8277 (leave a message
and your call will be returned).
You can also contact Randy at
225.291.2187.
All donated funds will be
divided equally and distributed
directly to UCT members affected
by the flood.