This month, I’ve been thinking about what it looks like to invest in our community, whether that’s a day spent volunteering or giving generously to support initiatives that are helping our friends and neighbors thrive. We saw the power of our community’s investments in action throughout September:
A Reimagined Day of Caring
Day of Caring looked a little different this year. Between morning projects at local nonprofits, a shared lunch, and a dynamic new afternoon experience, the day was bursting with energy as volunteers and community champions made it one to remember. We started the day with more than 220 community members at our kickoff breakfast, hosted by our wonderful partners at Cornbred. From there, hundreds of our friends and neighbors gave the gift of their time and service in support of our community:
- 402 volunteers gave 1,953 hours of service.
- Volunteers completed projects at 26 nonprofit sites across Story County.
- More than 125 volunteers helped assemble nearly 5,000 literacy, dental, snack and other kits for local nonprofit partner agencies as part of our new afternoon kit building opportunity.
A community art project, lunch and a volunteer photo area rounded out the experience. This day was made possible by generous sponsorship and support from presenting sponsor 3M, volunteer sponsor Ames Ford Lincoln, kit sponsors VisionBank and Fareway, Circle of Hope sponsors Workiva and Story County Medical Center, and many other local businesses and groups. A special thank you to the United Way of Story County board of directors, Young Leaders Society members and Day of Caring Ambassadors, who staffed kit stations and connected with volunteers at project sites, and to every volunteer who spent their day making Story County stronger.
Building Readers with Iowa Reading Corps
Our partnership with Iowa Reading Corps goes back to the 2013–14 school year. Iowa Reading Corps tutors are AmeriCorps members who serve full- or part-time in local elementary schools, giving research-based reading help to kindergarten through third grade students who need extra support. They lead focused tutoring sessions, track each student’s progress, and meet regularly with teachers to review data and work toward each child’s learning goals.
This one-on-one tutoring adds to the small-group support school staff already provide. Just as important, it gives each student one more caring adult: someone who believes in their success.
Through the Iowa Reading Corps program in Story County, tutors usually serve 100 to 200 students a year. In 2025–26 we reached a record 344 students across seven elementary buildings in Ames and Gilbert:
- 252 students had complete progress data (six or more measurements), and all of them improved their assessment scores over the year.
- 183 students (73%) did more than improve: they exceeded their target growth.
- Students averaged 64 minutes of tutoring each week.
Reading well by third grade is one of the strongest predictors of later success in school, and these early years are when support makes the biggest difference.
That’s why United Way of Story County invests directly to help our districts and buildings host Reading Corps members. We’ve been excited to grow that investment. In 2024–25 we supported six members in five buildings across two school districts. This school year, 14 members are serving in eight elementary buildings across three of our school districts, backed by financial investments from United Way of Story County that are made possible by your generous support.
Behind every number or program is someone from our community: a volunteer who gave their time to stock shelves at a local food pantry, a nonprofit that received supplies to help them serve working families, a child who found confidence in reading through the support of a caring tutor. Your support makes this possible. Thank you for building a stronger Story County with us.
United is the Way.