Volunteer Spotlight: Scott Fischer
For more than three quarters of his career with the company, Scott Fischer has been serving as the United Way Campaign Coordinator for Architects West, Inc. As a past president and current United Way of Kootenai County board member, Fischer knows the importance of raising money for the Community Care Fund that supports programs from local nonprofits. These are the grassroots organizations serving the community and their programs are helping thousands of the most vulnerable individuals and families each year. One easy way to do this is through an employee giving campaign and Architects West is a pacesetter when it comes to this.
Fischer states modestly, "Our campaign is low-key and runs for two to three weeks every August." However, coordinating a campaign does take some simple leg work: Advising employees of the program and the benefits, sending out and collecting pledge materials, reporting the results to UWKC, and coordinating with staff for payroll deductions and corporate donation. "I may spend three or four hours total on the campaign," said Fischer. "Our employees just respond on their own, without gimmicks. Once the "ask" is made, they respond with maybe one reminder, and it is done. They are fantastic supporters! A few employees are excited to get involved as volunteers with the United Way Day of Caring."
When asked why he decided to be the United Way Employee Campaign Coordinator for Architects West 23 years ago, Fischer replied, "I've always felt United Way was a great way to donate to a group who could combine my donation, with hundreds of others to make the most of it. I appreciated that United Way held agencies accountable to the use of the funds. Now that United Way has moved from a donation pass-through organization (where the funds are simply collected and distributed) to an Impact organization, where the community's needs are determined and the appropriate groups are brought together to offer solutions to those needs, I am even more excited to be involved."
Fischer is certainly at the top of the yell leader pyramid for United Way of Kootenai County. He served on the United Way of Kootenai County Board of Directors for five years in the 1990s and will round out another six years (two full terms) in 2015. During this most recent period, he was elected and served as a board president and currently sits on the Income/Basic Needs Impact Council (four years) and several other committees. He is an active participant and volunteer in many of the United Way events and fundraisers, most recently, the 9th Annual UPS/United Way "Teeing Up for Kids" Golf Tournament, supporting Early Childhood Learning Programs throughout the five northern counties.
"It makes me feel good that I can make a small difference in this community by volunteering to improve conditions and getting my colleagues involved doing the same thing," shares Fischer. I think it simply makes your life richer, because you stop focusing on yourself and consider the needs of others. We can do so much more if we work together, and United Way provides a vehicle to combine the efforts of a lot of people to improve people's lives."
"Once," Fischer continued, "while delivering firewood from Elder Help of North Idaho with a group of church volunteers, we arrived at a home in Spirit Lake and began to unload the wood. As we finished, the recipient came out with tears in her eyes and told us she had just run out of wood that morning, and wasn't sure how she was going to keep her home heated. She made us feel like angels; it was so rewarding!"
Architects West's staff members have a history of being involved in community activities. From coaching youth sports, to supporting local schools, religious, and civic organizations, their staff has always been involved in the community. At the corporate level, they also support these entities because they know that improving our community is a "win/win" for all of us.
Architects West has been running an employee giving campaign for more than a dozen years. Due to the generosity of their employees and the success of their business, their giving campaign has more than doubled since 2005, raising more than $65,000 in the past decade. In addition to employee contributions, Architects West is a corporate sponsor. The Corporate Champion program allows corporations, foundations and small businesses to direct their annual corporate gift toward underwriting United Way administrative expenses. Because Corporate Champion Companies cover the overhead, 100 percent of donations to the Community Care Fund directly help people in Kootenai County.
Scott Fischer is a principal architect with Architects West, where he has worked for 32 years. He belongs to the Presbyterian Church, and is a past president of the Board of United Way of Kootenai County. He is married to wife, Susie, and has three grown boys.
United Way is seeking community service projects for Day of Caring: Sept. 18
Each year, more than 300 business leaders and community members roll up their sleeves and grab their tools to spend the day giving back to our community through the United Way of Kootenai County's Day of Caring. We have a lot of projects already lined up, but want to get the word out that there is an army of able people wanting to lend a helping hand to our local nonprofits. If you know of a nonprofit who needs work done, GIVE US A CALL and get the project on our work schedule.
The seventh annual Day of Caring will be held on Thursday, Sept. 18. The day begins with a spirited rally and breakfast as we bring everyone together to celebrate volunteerism and the "LIVE UNITED" spirit in our community.
Don't miss out on this fun day of making a difference in Kootenai County. United Way's Volunteer Center will match the best volunteer groups to get the job done. The projects should be able to be completed between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Contact Jeanette Laster, Community Impact Coordinator at (208) 667-8112 or visit our website at www.KootenaiUnitedWay.org for project proposal forms.
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The United Way of Kootenai County Volunteer Center
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* "One-Stop Volunteer Resource Center" for the whole community
* Ongoing and one-time volunteer opportunities
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(208) 667-8112
Visit the United Way's Volunteer Center website: www.kootenaiunitedway.org
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