Giving back through United Way

Jeff Reim Prehospital Care Program

As a boy growing up near Scranton, Pa., Jeff Reim easily could have strayed down the wrong path, perhaps hung out with the wrong crowd, and gotten into trouble.

But there was an intervening influence in those early years that kept Mr. Reim, a quality improvement specialist with UPMC’s Prehospital Care Program, on the straight and narrow. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America “taught me a lot about getting along with others within a group structure. I think it’s an organization that gets kids focused on the right things and keeps them off the streets,” says Mr. Reim.

Today, Mr. Reim is pleased to give back to an organization that gave him so much. For several years, the former paramedic and crew chief with the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Emergency Medical Services has designated the Boys & Girls Clubs as the recipient of his United Way contributions.

Strong performers for United Way

Mr. Reim and a majority of his colleagues within the Prehospital Care Program have made a strong commitment to support worthwhile organizations through United Way. According to campaign records, nearly 65 percent of staff members in the Prehospital Care Program have agreed to donate to United Way, making it among the top UPMC departments for participation in the United Way campaign.

Myron Rickens, director, Prehospital Care Program, designates his United Way contributions to the Pittsburgh Emergency Medicine Foundation, an organization “very dear to me” that increases awareness and interest in the field of emergency medicine education and research.

Mr. Rickens says the key to achieving the program’s high participation rate for United Way contributions was simply getting the word out to his staff that “United Way contributions do in fact make a difference in our community. They (staff members) did the rest.”

There’s still time to participate in UPMC’s 2006 United Way campaign by donating online. For more information, visit the United Way page on UPMC Infonet.

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