Do you want to be at the heart of youth service, be recognized for outstanding work and have the opportunity to share and collect ideas from hundreds of other youth? Then plan to attend a Service Symposium for youth, parents and educators April 17 at Duke Energy Center and learn about Global Youth Service Day.

The symposium precedes a week of projects April 17-25 in conjunction with Global Youth Service Day (GYSD). United Way of Greater Cincinnati and Children Inc., a United Way agency partner, are teaming up to recruit area youth to sign up for projects.

The April 17 symposium will include:

* Best-practice displays by area schools and other groups, including United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s Youth Engaged in Service (YES).

* Recognition of past service achievements and mini-grants to a select few presenters for use in future projects or as donations to a non-profit agency.

* Leadership development workshops.

* Networking opportunities for youth to discuss current issues facing the community and possible solutions.

* Presentations by national leaders in youth service who have created national movements out of local issues.

For questions or to sign up to host a table or present a topic, contact, Jordan Huizenga, Children Inc., at 859-431-2075, ext. 128, e-mail JHuizenga@childreninc.org.

To sign up for projects for the week of April 17-25, visit www.uwgc.org/gysd, call United Way’s The Volunteer Connection Center at 762-7235, or e-mail nickol.mora@uwgc.org.

Projects will include landscaping and yard work, gardening, serving a meal to homeless individuals, preparing elementary school age children for the Ohio Achievement test (tutoring), and helping “hands on” at a day camp for children with disabilities.

GYSD is an annual event celebrated in more than 100 countries highlighting the contributions of youth to their communities. In the U.S., the event is held in partnership with Youth Service America, an organization working to increase service opportunities for youth during the years they are developing lifelong habits.

“Passionate,” “committed,” “driven” and “selfless” are just a few adjectives repeated in the nomination letters for The Enquirer’s 42nd annual Women of the Year honors.

“We are very gratified by the hundreds of letters we received from our readers, telling us about the extraordinary women in our community. We were challenged to narrow the group down to 10 honorees for the class of 2009,” said Margaret Buchanan, Enquirer president and publisher.

“It will be a privilege for us to share their stories in our special WOY section on April 18, and at the award luncheon on April 28.”

Nominated by co-workers, volunteers, bosses and those who have benefited from their work, the women have volunteered their time and skills to various needs throughout the community, whether in the schools, arts or social-service organizations.

These 10 women will be honored at the April 28 luncheon at the Hyatt Regency, Downtown:

Suzanne Costandi, Hyde Park: Since arriving in Cincinnati in 1970, Costandi has worked to promote health education for children. The former director of programs and education at the Cincinnati Museum Center helped develop the Children’s Discovery Center and has organized the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s “Lollipops” concerts for children. Costandi, who has a nursing degree, has also led capital fundraising campaigns for Mercy and TriHealth hospitals, and worked to raise funding for the needs of elderly people.

Marian Cummins, Independence: Cummins, a nurse and faculty member at Northern Kentucky University, has devoted her time to improving the health of underserved people. In 2003, she started Health From the Heart – now the Nurse Advocacy Center for the Underserved. The program places registered nurses in women’s shelters in Northern Kentucky to care for basic health needs. Cummins continues to coordinate the volunteer nurses who staff the program, which has expanded to include residents of housing projects.

Yvonne L. Edmonds-West, West Chester Township: For more than 32 years, Edmonds-West has nurtured youth through various organizations. She helped bring the Cincinnati Opera’s outreach program – “Oh Freedom!” a musical tribute to African-American history – to schoolchildren across the community. As a member of the nonprofit service group Links Inc., she tutored students at Lincoln Heights Elementary School, and has conducted fundraising for the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati and the Healthcare Connection.

Crystal Faulkner, Hyde Park: Faulkner, a co-owner of the financial firm Cooney Faulkner & Stevens, has volunteered her time to make financial concepts more understandable for the general public. She is founder of Accounting for Kids, a program that introduces financial literacy to students; is a member of the board of trustees for the Economics Center for Education and Research at the University of Cincinnati; and helped develop a financial education program for Cincinnati Public Schools – the first urban school system in Ohio to commit to such a curriculum.

Suzette Fisher, Amberley Village: Fisher, who moved to Cincinnati in 1986, is a founding member of the Women’s Leadership Council for the United Way. She serves on the allocation committee for the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, and often visits the recipients of the organization’s family services. She also helped reshape the scope and structure of education at Rockwern Academy, a Jewish school serving preschool-grade 8.

Cheryl Hill, Colerain Township: Hill manages a global team as GE Aviation’s sourcing manager for China and India. She is also a volunteer board member for the General Electric Credit Union, where she started on the supervisory committee. She organizes the company’s volunteer work for organizations, including the Freestore Foodbank, St. Rita School for the Deaf and the March of Dimes, and mentors new employees and students in Aiken High School’s College Bound Program.

Rochelle S. Jeffries Johnson, North College Hill: While working for 35 years as a teacher and reading intervention specialist for the Cincinnati Public Schools, Jeffries Johnson provided students with the tools to pursue careers. She also raised record-setting donations for community projects supported by the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Since retiring in 2006, Jeffries Johnson has continued to tutor students of all ages, volunteers at the Springfield Township Senior Center and serves as a volunteer property manager for Lee Chapel A.M.E. Church.

Sister Janet Linz, Over-the-Rhine: While principal at St. Francis Seraph School in Over-the-Rhine, Linz is credited with turning around the grade school by establishing support programs and scholarships to help students continue at Catholic high schools. Now at Purcell Marian High School, Linz formed and leads the Lavatus Powell Urban Students Program to help guide students who are at risk of failing to graduate.

Elizabeth Tu Hoffman, Indian Hill: Tu Hoffman, who was born in the United States but received her primary education in Taiwan, has devoted much of her life to improving the ties between Cincinnati and China. She established E. Tu Associates in 1982, which has helped many small and medium-sized companies establish trade relations with Asia. Since 1976 she has volunteered her bilingual skills for community services, and has served as chair for the Cincinnati-Liuzhou sister-city program.

Ronna Willis, Amberley Village: Willis has chaired major fundraising events for Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Opera and the Cincinnati Ballet, in addition to three galas for Jewish Hospital. While serving on committees for the ballet, Willis has supported the needs of dancers, providing Thanksgiving dinners and arranging housing when needed, and she started an education program for the dancers at Cincinnati State. .

The United Way of Greater Cincinnati, operating in the hardest economic times in more than 80 years, made its fall campaign 2009 goal.

 The campaign exceeded its $62 million goal, coming in at $62,025,000.

Drive chairman A.G. Lafley gave the community a figurative slap on the back.

“I am overwhelmed by the generosity,” he said during a noon-hour campaign finale at the Millennium Hotel downtown.

“We entered the last 10 days of the campaign with a gap of about half a million dollars. Two months ago the gap was $2 million. A month ago it was $1 million. With the efforts of literally thousands of people who recognized that this is a year when we could not fall short, we’re here today to announce we’ve met our goal.”

On Aug. 26, in announcing the goal, Lafley took the recession into account and said that $62 million was the minimum the campaign had to reach.

“The current economic situation continues to have a major impact on the number of people seeking help, many for the first time in their lives,” Lafley, the chairman of Procter & Gamble, said today.

It is true that America is the land of opportunity. It is also true that some have more roadblocks to opportunity than others. Those who come from circumstances of inadequate parenting, mental illness or poverty, for example, are far more likely to end up “in the system” than others. While it may be morally convenient to brush off all unproductive and criminal behavior as poor personal choice, reality is not that simple and, in any case, ignoring the issue fails to address an issue that needs to be addressed.

Addressing this issue is the role of social service agencies and social welfare programs. While such programs are often criticized, at their best they give disadvantaged, underproductive citizens the means toward productivity, self esteem and economic self-sufficiency.

I took a tour of one such program, Cincinnati Cooks!, last week.

This is the motto of Cincinnati Cooks! It is an intense 10-week program sponsored by United Way and the Freestore Foodbank that teaches the skills needed to work in the food service industry. In addition to food preparation, students must also set tables, take orders, serve food and wash dishes. If it happens in a restaurant, they have to learn it. And that includes fancy French terminology… this is definitely the only place in the city where one might hear the phrases “state penitentiary” in one sentence and mis en place the next.

In addition to food prep training, the students are given ServSafe training which is a food safety course based on CDC guidelines. The course teaches the causes and prevention of foodborne illnesses and is a valuable asset for anyone seeking managerial work in the industry.

Before any culinary training can begin, however, the students must learn basic workplace skills that most of us take for granted but which many of them have not learned. The head teacher, Chef Jeff Pitts, explained that discipline and structure are key elements of the program. Students must arrive by 8 a.m. They must sit straight. They must dress in uniform. They must address everyone by title. They must behave professionally with other students whether they like them or not.

Ordinarily, one might expect the combination of militaristic rule structure and disaffected attitudes to result in high attrition. But in reality the opposite is true because of the presence of former students, including Chef Pitts himself. Graduates of the program return to provide mentoring, guidance and encouragement to current students. This interaction between students and graduates lets students see the life-changing results for themselves and keeps them in the program. As a result, it has a 90% graduation rate. Even more impressive is that just under 80% of graduates were still employed 5 years after graduation (at least when the economy was better).

I spoke with one graduate who expressed great satisfaction with the mentoring aspect because, unlike his regular job as a chef, mentoring had a “humanitarian” aspect of giving back to the community which is something he had never experienced before. This person had previously been in prison and couldn’t get a job afterwards. He told me he was hired within two weeks of his graduation.

The tour included lunch so we sampled the students’ work. I was particularly impressed with my entree, chicken stuffed with wild rice and mozzarella. The chicken was perfectly cooked: delicious, moist and tender. All the food was gustatorily and aesthetically pleasing so it should not have been a surprise to find out that Cincinnati Cooks! has a flourishing catering operation with selections for breakfast, lunch (including box lunches) and dinner. They do weddings and corporate events and provide 1000 lunches every day to low income schoolchildren.

I asked what Cincinnati Cooks! can do with additional resources. The answer, predictably enough, is that it can hire an additional teacher and take on more students. The program is already planning to move into a new building with a kitchen space dedicated to its catering operation which it hopes will expand and generate supporting revenue.

Based on my observations, Cincinnati Cooks! is an exemplary social service program. It provides job skills, personal responsibility and financial stability to those who did not have them. In a strictly economic sense it is an outstanding investment in human capital because it converts an underproductive tax-consuming group into a productive taxpaying group. In a humanitarian sense it lays the foundation for personal pride and self-determination that many students feel for the first time. Such success does not happen by accident and United Way and Freestore Foodbank deserve accolades and gratitude for setting up this effective program that benefits the city.

Terry McCutchen learned a lot about parenting from Every Child Succeeds.

The most important lesson? “They taught me to just let kids be kids,” said the Newport woman, whose twins, Ben and Bogan, are now 9.

Every Child Succeeds, an Avondale-based home visitation program aimed at helping first-time mothers in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentuckygive their babies the best possible start, marks its 10th anniversary this year. Since its founding in 1999, staff have made nearly 300,000 home visits to more than 15,000 families around the region, said president Judith Van Ginkel.

“Our whole focus is on developing autonomy for the moms and the families,” Van Ginkel said. “They’re with us for a certain period of time, and we want to make the best use of that time that we can.”

The program was established as a collaboration between the United Way, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency when community leaders realized no United Way programs addressed developmental issues for very young children.

Kaycee Kellens’ daughter, Kearney, routinely outsmarts the developmental tests that her home visitor administers. And Kellens credits the program with giving her the encouragement to earn her nursing degree.

“It was nice to have your own personal cheerleader,” the Harrison woman said.

Home visitors work one-on-one with families until the baby turns 3.

Their jobs include everything from getting pregnant clients to a doctor for prenatal care to helping reduce premature birth and infant mortality to teaching parents how to manage temper tantrums.

They also make sure the children are ready to start pre-school when the time comes, Van Ginkel said.

“We’re creating a literacy curriculum for children 0 to 3 in cooperation with the National Center for Family Literacy in Louisville,” she said. “We’re building it. It doesn’t exist.”

The program collects data on all of its families to measure their progress and identify which approaches are effective and which aren’t.

The program’s clients, who tend to be young and poor, are at greater risk for premature birth, which can lead to a host of health and developmental problems for their babies.

The program’s focus on getting moms prenatal care has helped it rack up some impressive numbers:

90 percent of infants and children in the program are on-track developmentally.

90.9 percent of mothers who enrolled while pregnant delivered babies at a healthy birth weight.

99.5 percent of mothers who enrolled while pregnant went to four or more prenatal visits.

Infant mortality rates for families in the program is 4.7, compared to 7.8 for Ohio, 6.9 for Kentucky and 17.4 for the city of Cincinnati.

The program has earned a national reputation for its effectiveness, Van Ginkel said, and staff are working with agencies in Connecticut, Boston and Little Rock, Ark., interested in adapting its principles.

Through its 15 partner agencies, Every Child Succeeds offers a variety of parenting classes.

Kellens and her husband, Vic, attend classes together on effective discipline techniques and other topics. When Kellens struggled with post-partum depression after Kearney’s birth, her home visitor helped her get through it.

“My mother hadn’t dealt with it. My mother-in-law hadn’t dealt with it. So there really wasn’t anyone close that I could ask,” Kellens said. “It was really helpful to have my home visitor there to tell me, ‘It’s not you. It’s not that you’re a bad mom.’”

Kellens and her daughter will graduate in December.

McCutchen still keeps in touch with her home visitor.

That could come in handy, she said when the twins started squabbling with their young sister, Cecily.

“Maybe she’ll come back,” McCutchen said.

With one week to go in its fall campaign, the United Way of Greater Cincinnati projects it might finish about $500,000 short of its $62 million goal.

This post is all about dispelling a myth. I’m sure that most of you who think about a service organization like Cincinnati Cooks! think to yourselves, “Yeah, they do a great community service. But the quality of food probably isn’t that great. Fine for the children of Kids Cafe, but not something I’d have catered in.”

Allow me to attack that short-sightedness.

First, as part of the tour that the wonderful folks of United Way of Greater Cincinnati and FreeStore Foodbank arranged for several bloggers, the Cincinnati Cooks! folks were kind enough to include a sit-down lunch as part of the deal. (You can’t comprehend the hearts these people have) They served us stuffed chicken breast–the stuffing being rice, spinach and mozzerella cheese–steamed vegetables, mac and cheese and an apple crumble cake for desert.

I can’t begin to adequately describe to you the delicious looking presentation of the meal. Unfortunately, I was too busy devouring it to take pics of it. As delicious as it looked, the meal tasted even better. Until they invent smell-o-vision or taste-o-blogs, you’ll just have to take my word as a foodie on this. The chicken was moist and the stuffing was perfectly combined in the right proportion (a testament to the roll technique taught by the Master Chefs who donate their time and talents). The steamed vegetables were not mushy in the least (a classic oversteaming issue), but had just the perfect crispness. I love that! I can’t stand mushy veggies. Finally, the apple crumble cake had wonderfully sweet chunks of actual apple in its moist and delicious cake. They were like little surprises of heaven!

So if you come up to me in person and suggest that something like Cincinnati Cooks! doesn’t have quality food, my stomach will literally come out of my body Alien-style and beat you senseless for such buffoonery.

And secondly, allow me to direct you to Cincinnati Cooks! catering service. Oh that’s right, they have their own catering service, in addition to providing food for Kids Cafe everyday. And we’re not talking about little pigs-in-a-blanket appetizer either. They will cater breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or whatever you’ve got.

Here’s just a sampling of some of what they offer: Bahamian Albacore Tuna Salad; Carmel Apple & Goat Cheese; Ghiradelli Chocolate Brownies; Fountain Square Hot Breakfast Buffet; Agean Greek Salad; Asiago & Tenderloin of Beef Sandwich; Filet Mignon on Crostini w/Herbed Cheese appetizers.

Hungry yet?

So the next time you think a service organization that deals with food services can’t produce quality dishes, you’d better stop and check yourself. Cincinnati Cooks! can and does. In fact, you should go one better. You should order from Cincinnati Cooks! for your next event. It’s a total win-win situation. The food and service will be top-notch. You’re event guests/participants will be impressed, no doubt. And you’ll be giving back to your community by sponsoring a wonderful organization through your order.

Thanks again to all the wonderful people at Cincinnati Cooks!, The FreeStore Foodbank and United Way of Greater Cincinnati for helping set up the tour, and for an unbelievable couple of hours.

Remember: There are literally thousands of ways to help your community through the United Way. If you haven’t done your part yet, click on the “Live United” button in the right column of my blog or simply click here. I’m sure you will find a way to actively participate. Though the fundraising campaign might end on October 30th, the need and your volunteerism doesn’t.

Check in, pay attention, volunteer, donate and Live United.

I’ve been advocating for important issues since I was four-years-old.

It started way back on a sunny spring day in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sunshine is at a premium during that time of year in the Twin Cities, and the weather must have made an impression on me as I played at a park with the rest of my Montessori class.

There we were, running around the swings and slides, when one of my classmates offered me a big, red, stop sign-shaped sticker denouncing acid rain.

I happily grabbed that Stop Acid Rain! sticker and slapped it on my metal, Holly Hobby lunch box.

To this day, my mom says that’s when she knew I was going to grow up to be an activist.

Since that glorious day near Lake Minnetonka, I have trumpeted issues that matter most to me. I’ve gotten involved in political campaigns and used my personal blog as a forum to champion ideas important to my community.

I am committed to using my passion, my energy, my time to making a difference.

Whether I help make change in the community, in my neighborhood or in one person’s life, I am confident my work is making our world just a wee bit better.

Everyone has the potential to advocate. If you have Facebook or Twitter, use your avatar to raise awareness for a cause that’s important to you. If you have a stretch of lawn in front of your home, raise a yard sign informing your neighbors about an issue you care about.

Next time you join a friend for coffee or a cocktail, take a moment to tell them what you really care about, and how they can help support your cause.

Heck. Plaster your car with bumper stickers.

Just get the message out.

We each have a voice and a channel for advocacy. It’s not just about writing your lawmakers about issues that need attention – it’s about telling your family, friends and co-workers why they should care about something that’s important to you.

Sharing the message is one way we can rally the troops.

Even the little four-year-olds.

This might sound strange, but sometimes being uemployed can be a blessing in disguise. Certainly, I’m not talking about the financial struggle. No, I’m referring to how the lack of financial resources forces you to do some things differently in your life, often with surprising results.

I have been a big supporter of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. My former employer was as well. So for the past several years, my support consisted of signing a form delegating how much money would be taken from my paycheck and donated. Now that certainly admirable, as the United Way will never turn down monetary donations. However, I should have been doing more.

My current unemployment status, obviously, took away the option of donating cash this go ’round. So I was forced to do things differently. I’m certainly glad I did.

Several days ago I volunteered to use my blogging skills (such as they are) for getting the word out about some of the lessor known programs that UWGC has a hand in. I had the privilege (and I do mean privilege) of touring the Cincinnati Cooks! facility. Cincinnati Cooks! is a program that is sponsored by the FreeStore Foodbank, which gets help from UWGC.

Their motto is “Feeding the Soul of the City”. That’s exactly what they do (although they feed your stomach pretty darn good as well; more on that in a later post). In fact, it’s the most important thing that they do.

Cincinnati Cooks! is a 10-week program that teaches those from low income households all facets of cooking and kitchen operation. Students are not only provided with skills in the kitchen, and a 16-hour “ServSafe” Certification, but most importantly, they are provided with life skills as well.

As our guide, Chef Jeff Pitts (more on him in a later post as well), told us, “those who are accepted to the program are told to be here on their first day at 8am sharp. If they get here at 8:03am, they are told to go home and come back again when the next group begins 5-weeks later.”

If that sounds harsh, it’s not. You ever watched an episode of Hell’s Kitchen? I’ve got friends in New York City who work in kitchens; it’s not that far off. You’re late; you’re out. End of story.

That type of “tough love” is working. The program has over a 70% retention rate of graduates who have gone on to get jobs in the food services industry and keep them. You can just imagine what other things in their lives have improved along with the steady paycheck and increased regiment. And those who graduate and move on often return to donate their time and skills, as their way of paying it forward. In fact, Chef Pitts is a graduate himself! And while I was there, a recent graduate returned to have lunch with students who were in the class after him to talk and encourage them about what lies ahead of them.

Probably the least known part about Cincinnati Cooks! is that the meals that the students cook as part of their training each day are the meals that feed 1,000 children per day in the Kids Cafe sites of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. From the moment the students enter the program, they are being taught how to give back, in addition to kitchen skills.

What Cincinnati Cooks! does is some of the most inspiring, yet unknown, work in town. There’s so much that I was affected by that day that I can’t fit in all in one blog. So I’ve decided to make several posts. Just think of it as my own personal investigative series.

Only I’m not looking to catch crooks!  Just donations and volunteers!

So for those of you who donate to UWGC and have always wanted to know, on a more intimate, personal level, what is being done with your money, this is your chance. Follow along with my posts about this program; then get out and volunteer your time at one of your choice.

You can find all the information you need to know at http://www.uwgc.org/ or you can just click the “Live United” button to your right. If there is any information I leave out (after I’m finished with this post series) about the FreeStore Foodbank or Cincinnati Cooks!, you can find out more about them at http://www.freestorefoodbank.org/ And if you just want to donate money and that’s all…well, UWGC will certainly accept that as well.

Just find a way to “feed your soul”.

Sitting around in a cubicle, bored to death in your office, playing Rock Band during office hours. Chances are one of these sounds similar to your work week. But unless you are Ozzy Osborne or one of the fortunate employees at MedPlus you’re probably not getting paid to rock out.
MedPlus is an industry leading software development company in Mason that focuses on the development of health care technology that aids doctors, practices, hospitals and institutions with clinical and administrative applications. MedPlus has been the health care information subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics since 2001.
Every year at the end of September and the beginning of October the MedPlus employees briefly put aside their design meetings, laptops and responsibilities to help support the United Way.
“We have been running a United Way campaign since the mid to late 1990s,” explains Amy Seltz Avera, Human Resources representative for MedPlus. “ We have done a variety of events each year including a silent auction with donated items, a basket raffle, manager penny jars and a Yankee Candle drive.”
MedPlus offers an array of fund raisers. Are basket raffles and bake sales not your style? How about pizza parties, an ice cream cart or a Skyline chili cook off? Still no? Well, MedPlus offers all of the above and so much more. For a nominal entry fee of $10, employees can also gather a group of co-workers to battle in a Rock Band competition, a Corn Hole tournament or even the Amazing Race.
Not only are the employees hopping on the fund raising bandwagon to help support the United Way and it’s organizations, but they have some astounding incentives, too. It’s no wonder that there is a surprising amount of employee participation with a plethora of prizes including restaurant gift certificates, t-shirts or watches and a grand prize of an extra day off of work. “The last few years we have raised approximately $40,000 for United Way,” states Avera.
With numbers only going up, hitting around $50,000 this year, MedPlus employees can sit pretty knowing they raced, cooked, tossed, sang their way into a monumental fund raising effort. “Our understanding is that $.90 of every dollar goes toward a United Way agency or organization, including American Red Cross and Boys and Girls Clubs,” explains Avera, “the remaining $.10 goes toward administrative fees.” That is an honorable deed for any company but MedPlus doesn’t stop there. They also support The Children’s Home, The Fine Arts Fund and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Whether they are the quiet keep-to-themselves-bid-in-the-silent-auction type or the vivacious sing-loudly-in-front-of-co-workers-jam to the Beatles type, there is a way for everyone to feel good about giving to a noble cause and to have fun while doing it.

The health of young children in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky is declining.

More children are dying before their first birthday, more children are born weighing less than 5.5 pounds, and fewer women are getting medical care early in their pregnancies, according to a United Way report released Tuesday.

The second Successful Starts data book, first published in 2006, promotes the need for money for early-childhood education programs through the United Way .

Infant mortality rates – the number of deaths of infants before the age of 1 year per 1,000 live births – rose to 11 in Kenton and Campbell counties in Kentucky and 11.4 and 11 and 10.9 in the Ohio counties of Brown and Hamilton.

“This is a chronic issue in our communities,” said Stephanie Byrd, executive director of Hamilton County Success by 6.

The most recent U.S. rate is 6.7 for infant mortality. That is viewed as the single best measure of a community or nation’s overall health.

The number of children with low birth weights continues to grow in Hamilton (10.4 per 1,000 births), Grant (9), Butler (8.1) and Kenton and Campbell (8) counties. Low birth weight puts infants at risk of development delays. Research shows that the most critical brain growth occurs within the first three to five years of life.

Nationally, the average for low birth weights is 8.3.

The rate of prenatal care in the first trimester is declining in three of the four Ohio counties in which agencies receive funding through the United Way of Greater Cincinnati: Hamilton fell from 66.8 percent in 2006 to 62.7 percent in 2007; Butler, 70.8 to 68 percent; and Clermont, 81.3 to 80.8 percent.

Three days away from payday, and I am cutting corners.

So goes the ebb and flow of my financial forecast. Once the paycheck rolls in, I dole out what’s required to cover my debts and financial obligations, saving what’s left to fill the gas tank, cover my grocery expenses and otherwise support my thriving social life.

Life tends to get a little leaner the further out I am from payday.

Those leaner, meaner days mean cracking open tuna cans stockpiled in the pantry for just the occasion or forgoing a night out on the town for a cozy evening in with a cheap (but equally tasty) Three Buck Chuck or something comparable.

I am intimately familiar with scraping by until the day of my next direct deposit. This is less of a reflection on my salary and more a reflection on my ability to manage finances, but I digress.

Times can be tough for just about anyone.

In regards to my more frugal circumstances, today’s lunch presented something of a challenge.

How does one eat a meal for less than $3.50?

Such a daunting task is possible when one plans accordingly – preparing a meal at home and packing it up before work, or toting along a one-dollar frozen meal from the discount section of the grocery freezer case. sandwich, small fries and small diet soda – my wallet only $3.18 lighter after the trip.

But when an individual (read: me) is lazy and less inclined to plan ahead on occasion, said individual is forced to hunt-and-gather for food at fast food joints close to the office.

I made it back to my cube with a McChicken

My lunch time challenge and results made me think about the cost of an average meal around the world, and how my three-bucks-and-change respite is likely an extravagance when compared to what other people have to spend on lunch.

I just crossed this interesting piece on the cost of groceries around the world, and the related explanation of how the prices were assessed. While India turns out to be the world’s source for most inexpensive groceries, the price of eggs and bread is still probably too steep for a country coping with up to 42 percent of its population below the international poverty line.

India isn’t the only place coping with poverty.

Right here in Greater Cincinnati, we have people struggling to cover their utility bills and rent. Local families and individuals are stretching even further, hoping to make ends meet and put food on the table every evening.

Thankfully, United Way 211 is here to help those in need. Whether you need assistance in buying groceries, or are interested in finding a quality child care program for your little one, United Way 211 is a resource for anyone needing almost any kind of help.

United Way 211 is also a great source for people seeking opportunities to give help.

You can learn more about United Way 211 by clicking here.

If you’d like to support United Way’s work to create change and improve lives across Greater Cincinnati, please click here.

A place-based investors collaborative designed to address and improve social conditions in tightly concentrated geographic areas in the Tri-State will continue.

Started in 2007 in Avondale, Covington and Price Hill, the effort coordinates strategy and system-level activities at the neighborhood level. Much has been accomplished, and two other communities, Felicity and Middletown, are approaching comprehensive community investments, too. To learn more, click here.

Place matters is funded by the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr./US Bank Foundation, Chase Bank, LISC of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky, NeighborWorks America, PNC Bank, and the SC Ministry Foundation. Xavier University’s Community Building Institute has acted as overall project manager.

Partners in Avondale are the Avondale Community Council, Every Child Succeeds, the Center for Closing the Health Gap, and the Avondale Redevelopment Corporation. The lead agency in Covington is the Center for Great Neighborhoods. The lead agencies in Price Hill are Price Hill W!ll and Santa Maria Community Services.

Bengals tackle Andrew Whitworth waved his arms, exorting the crowd as if it was third down and the defense needed a stop.

“Sorry, I just had some coffee,” he said sheepishly, “and I don’t usually drink coffee.”

Moments later, Whitworth and center Kyle Cook took command of the fence-building project, treating the Bengals’ annual “Hometown Huddle” like an on-field huddle: The linemen were ready to work.

They were among a few dozen players who spent a chunk of their day off today in East Price Hill, helping build a new fitness course and garden at the Price Hill Recreation Center. It was part of the “Hometown Huddle,” an annual community-service project that the NFL and United Way hold in each NFL city. The Marvin Lewis Community Fund and Cincinnati Recreation Commission also sponsor the local event.

Lewis told the crowd that the coaches will lighten the workload on players this week, because their first four games have been so taxing. A few players will need a break after their effort today. Rookie punt returner Quan Cosby hauled a lineman’s share of lumber.

The scouting report is later than normal because I was hauling lumber alongside him. I was one of a couple hundred volunteers who hauled lumber, swung a sledgehammer, shoveled dirt, spread mulch and did all the other dirty work that it takes to build such a facility. (I have the sweaty t-shirt and muscle fatigue to prove it.)

It was an honor to spend the day with so many selfless people, and it provided an interesting insight into the players. For instance, it is clear the offensive linemen are the worker-bees of the team; they came prepared. And Bobbie Williams smiled throughout, introducing himself to seemingly everyone around him.

On behalf of my neighbors in Price Hill, I’d like to thank the many volunteers who braved some early rain; the corporate sponsors who made it possible, including Home Depot and Baker Concrete; and the numerous non-profit groups who work on behalf of the underpriveleged residents of Price Hill.

I left after about five hours, and dozens of folks were still hard at work, including former Bengals running back Eric Ball, who is the team’s director of player relations; Kara Ray of Price Hill Will; a handful of people from The United Way; and a number of volunteers.

The fitness course should be open soon, and East Price Hill is a little better for it.