Make Living United your way of life! 

Mesa United Way is all about Living United in ways that make our communioty stronger. But it's a concept we all can and should incorporate into our everyday lives as well. Here are some ways:

• Invite a friend, neighbor, family member to attend a school board meeting with you.
• Organize a book drive with your family, co-workers, school, club or faith community.
• Read to children in your family, at your library, or with a local non-profit engaged in child care or literacy.
• Purchase school supplies for a local school to distribute to children who need them.
• Enroll your child in a summer reading program at the local library.
• Donate your newspaper subscription to a local school when you go on vacation.
• Allow a high school student to shadow you at work and show them how apply things you learned in school.
• Take the children in your life to a local museum, exhibit or play.
• Be a mealtime partner for a pre-school class to help kids develop social skills.
• Mentor an at-risk youth at your neighborhood school.
• Bring a child in your life to a bank to have a tour and open up a savings account.
• Tutor at an adult literacy or technology program.
• Donate new or gently used professional clothing to an organization assisting individuals in seeking employment.
• Serve as a greeter at a free tax preparation community coalition site to help low-income families acquire up to thousands of dollars in earned income tax credits.
• Volunteer to prepare tax returns for low-income families.
• Contact your local representative about and issue affecting working people in your community.
• Ask your bank if they offer free checking and savings accounts to low-income families and encourage them to start if they don't.
• Engage with a middle school to teach a class on how to save money and watch with them as it grows.
• Help senior citizens learn how to detect and prevent fraud.
• Contact your local health clinic to offer assistance in anything from distributing flyers to serving on an event committee to writing a letter to the editor on their behalf.
• Check into what healthy snacks are or are not available in your local schools and call on others to promote tasty healthy meals and fun exercise at school.
• Start a walking group for friends, families, neighbors and/or community members that meets regularly at a set time and location. Soon the group will exist even if you can't make it!
• Get a flu shot.
• Buy pedometers for your friends and have a fun competition for who can walk the most steps.
• Purchase personal care items such as deodorant, toothbrushes and soap and drop them off at the local homeless shelter.
• Help transport families to necessary medical appointments so children can have proper screening and immunizations.