Paul Szmal: FLX Morning continues, it is 8.15 and a muggy 72, and we are joined by our friend Rhonda Jasper from the Seneca County United Way, Rhonda, good morning, how are you this morning?
Ronda Jasper: I'm good, how are you?
Paul Szmal: Refreshed from being back from vacation, you on the other hand are incredibly busy right now with a lot going on, which we'll get to in a minute, but I want to start things off with our July value of the month.
Ronda Jasper: Sure, citizenship, service to others, making a difference right here at home. And that's something that everybody in the family actually can participate in, in one way or another.
Paul Szmal: Yes, that is true, you know, encouraging our youth to treat each other with respect, you know, random act of kindness a day, staying involved in the community, knowing what's going on, and adults, of course, you know, mirroring all that and being a good example.
Ronda Jasper: Yeah, and one great way to stay involved in the community is to keep up on what's happening in the community, things like charitable events, things of that nature that you can partake in.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely, and there are a ton of volunteer opportunities around here to be able to stay involved in your community. I mean, of course, we have them, but we have tons of amazing nonprofits in the area and groups doing wonderful work that are always looking for some extra hands.
Ronda Jasper: You're getting geared up for the next event. And I got to tell you, I love the flyer for this that you sent over with the with the police officer characters all smiley and happy. And this is the national night out that is coming up on August the 5th. Tell us about how the United Way of Seneca County is participating in that.
Paul Szmal: So we are working with all of the local law enforcement. And I have to say that on the poster, what you see is actually our local police chief and sheriff and undersheriff. They are actually those people. And Sarah Smolenski is the one who designed it and has run with it. So we're super happy. But yeah, we even have state police and the park police and the DEA and a few others. But they come in and really work with the kids and work with the community on building that relationship, helping that, you know, so you don't only see police when, you know, it's a crisis or when something's bad, you get to interact with them and dunk them in a dunk tank. And we've got inflatables and helicopters coming in and all sorts of food and drink, even some free food for the kids. All our local agencies will be there. It really becomes quite the whole evening.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, we're talking with Rhonda Jasper here from the Seneca County United Way on FLX Morning. And I want to get to the busy part because there's a lot that has been going on with the United Way of Seneca County. One of them is that a section of the website has some new content to it.
Ronda Jasper: It does. We're always looking for things to be able to, you know, encourage families and youth to do. And we know that, again, regardless of whether you're talking about, you know, suicide prevention or substance abuse prevention or any sort of community building, having things to do and building good relationships is the basis of all of it. I mean, that is one of the core protective factors we can help do. So keeping our families and kids busy, helping them build connections, if you head out to our website at uwsenica.org, there's a new link towards the top of the page called Things to Do Family Edition, and it has a list of all of the things such as our libraries and links to all of their schedules, because they've got tons of programs, to events that we're doing, to events that other people are doing, just trying to have a one-stop place for everyone to figure out what their options are to keep them and their kids busy this summer.
Paul Szmal: That sounds like a great idea to be able to have that one-stop capability to find activities, recreational opportunities, things of that nature. And of course, I'm sure we have missed things that we don't know are going on.
Ronda Jasper: We did our best to catch them all. But if you have something you want added to this list, you just got to give us a call or drop us an email, and we are happy to add it.
Paul Szmal: All right. And the biggest news, I guess, here is that in the last time since we talked, you've packed up and moved shops, so to speak.
Ronda Jasper: We have. We literally moved shops. Yes, we are actually now out at the Finger Lakes Outlet Mall over by the food court. It is a bit further out of the way, however, the space is wonderful. The outlet mall has been a fantastic partner with us, helping us get in there. And there's going to be some really exciting things because we have a lot more space there now. So we'll be able to actually do things in our office. We definitely had outgrown our last one, but definitely pay attention. I'm waiting for a confirmed date, but we'll be having a grand reopening ribbon cutting in September. And that evening, we'll also do a special presentation for anyone who wants to stick around and learn more about what we actually do and how they can support us.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, you know, that would be a great idea for people to attend something like that and find out just how many different partner organizations get help from the United Way of Seneca County.
Ronda Jasper: Absolutely. All the partners we work with and in the different ways and the things we do in-house. So we definitely have a pretty set place in the county, although we're in between a whole lot of things. And we love to be able to show what we do. We love to be able to give people an opportunity. And we have yet to do a presentation like this and not have someone walk away going, wow, I didn't know that. I had no idea you did that. So we promise you that if you come, you'll learn at least one new thing.
Paul Szmal: There you go. Definitely worth the trip once that presentation date and grand opening, if you will, a grand reopening is announced. I wanted to mention fundraising because Rhonda, I know fundraising doesn't take a day off during the course of the year.
Ronda Jasper: It does not. We technically are in between campaigns right now, but that just means we're designing all the materials for the upcoming one. We, of course, hit the ground running usually in September, but we definitely, you know, we are using funds and supporting programs and doing activities with kids year round. And you know, as much as people's time and talent is appreciated and absolutely necessary, we do need funding to be able to keep all these things running too.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, absolutely. And there's a number of different ways that you can participate and help out with the United Way of Seneca County, everything from the simple payroll deduction program to making a one-time donation.
Ronda Jasper: Exactly. It's really easy. You can do it all online if you want, just through our website, lots of options. You can call us. You can stop in the office. We love visitors. You know, however you're able to, we would appreciate it. And we mean it when we say every dollar matters. It really does.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, those dollars go to help out a lot of those partner organizations that we're talking about and helps to fund a lot of the programs that you may not realize are possible through the help of the United Way.
Ronda Jasper: Exactly. We are fortunate enough to have fantastic partners across the county, you know, from the law enforcement for National Night Out to mental health department, public health department. So we really get to see a wide variety of the community. And you'd be hard pressed to find someone who has not been directly affected or attended one of our programs.
Paul Szmal: And I also wanted to ask you how Taste of Spring went, because I didn't get a chance to ask about that. I think the last time we were, we had a chat, so.
Ronda Jasper: It was very successful. I don't have the total off the top of my head, but it was really fun. You know, we got to do a birthday party for everybody, so we got to celebrate. We had some new vendors. We had some new sponsors. You know, it was really exciting. There are talks now, though, because we know that, you know, we're at 35 years. It's been pretty similar other than the themes. So trying to figure out how we're going to keep it new, what we might add in next year. So, you know, again, volunteer opportunity. We're always looking for input on that committee, too.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, I was going to say the planning for that starts the day after the event ends.
Ronda Jasper: Well, we take one day to rest, and then probably.
Paul Szmal: There you go. There you go. As always, Rhonda, it's good to talk to you. Thank you so much.
Ronda Jasper: Oh, thank you.
