Powerlifting his support for United Way

Last Friday morning found me in a strange and unfamiliar location for that time of day: a large spacious gym on Church Street in Lowell, MA. I’ve become accustomed to hearing people around here ask “How do you LIVE UNITED?” On Friday, I had the opportunity to see firsthand a creative and unique answer to that question.

 At my own request, I had accompanied another UW colleague to see the unique way that Paul Lavoie, a UPS employee, had decided to jumpstart his 2009 UW fundraising. He was going to attempt to lift more than 57,000 pounds over the course of an hour, alternating between bench press and lateral pull-down exercises. For those of you who are unfamiliar with weightlifting, this is a LOT of weight. His strategy was to do ten reps of each exercise and repeat…and repeat. Based on his predictions and with the support of his family, friends, and coworkers, he had raised over $1000 for the United Ways of New England. 

Initially the event was supposed to start at 9:30 am and 9:45 rolled around and I found myself in the critical role as “counter and tallyer of reps.” (It’s lucky that I have a secret affinity for taking detailed notes!) Paul began very smoothly and was soon effortlessly working his way through 95-pound bench presses and 100-pound lat pull-downs. The hour ticked by and Paul showed very few signs of fatigue and meanwhile, my arms were hurting just from watching him. When he finally did his last bench press, his total was much higher than expected. He had lifted over 90,000 pounds!  In an hour! It also made for a very pleasant photo op and Paul (on the far left) still doesn’t look tired!

Watching Paul spend an hour lifting weights in favor of supporting United Way got me thinking. We are always encouraging people to “GIVE ADVOCATE VOLUNTEER” at UW, and while financial contributions are always extremely valuable (especially under shaky economic conditions and with ever increasing food and fuel costs), there are active ways to give and generate funds. Holding fundraisers like Paul’s are a really great and interesting way to encourage people to donate.

 There’s also been a lot of talk around here lately about the Community Support Fund and the importance in providing support for those who need immediate assistance. Watching Paul lift his way to $1000 and hearing the President of Catholic Charities speak recently at a staff meeting made me realize that ADVOCACY and holding different events to GIVE can make the difference. It might sound trite but a little bit does go along way, and I began to think of situations where I might encourage my own giving. 

I’m new-ish to United Way, newer still to blogging, and still maybe a little skeptical about the impact that an individual can have on such large issues as poverty and homelessness. But you know what? People can have an impact, even if it’s as simple as giving a voice to those who otherwise might not be able to speak up or providing that extra money that gets them through one more month.  What do you think?  Are fundraisers like Paul’s the best way to go?  Are there better or more effective ways to get people to give?