Mike chats with Executive Director Shauna K. Brown and Tutor Vickie Venne. Project Read changes lives through literacy and empowers individuals, strengthens families, builds communities, and creates new cycles of intergenerational literacy. We believe that every person has the right to the options and opportunities that literacy provides. When literacy is achieved, doors are opened, opportunities gained, and lives are changed. We provide individual tutoring and small group instruction to help individuals improve their ability to read, write, compute, and use technology sufficiently to meet personal goals, function well in society, and become more productive citizens.

www.ProjectReadUtah.org

Mike chats with Executive Director Michelle Flynn & Communications Specialist Alicia Gleed. The all-day Mediathon, an annual tradition to raise money and other essential items for the Road Home, is happening on Friday, December 20th. The broadcast is a friendly competition among the radio stations to see who can bring in the most money by asking listeners and businesses to make donations. The broadcasts are the largest fundraiser for the shelter each year. The mission of The Road Home is to help people step out of homelessness and back into our community. The Road Home is a private nonprofit social services agency that assists individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake County and along the Wasatch Front.

www.TheRoadHome.org

Mike chats with Board Members Jessica White & Marty Bodell. The WARD foundation was recently organized as a 501(c)(3) charity. Our purpose is to continue retired educator Don Ward’s years of dedication to providing Welcome, Aid, Relief and Development opportunities to refugees living in the Wasatch front area. The WARD Foundation is a welcoming organization seeking to fill current and future needs (and hopes) of the many refugees who now make Utah home.

www.DonWardFoundation.org

Mike chats with Founder and Artistic Director Derryl Yeager. Why go to endless Christmas productions when you can get your complete Holiday Fix at Odyssey Dance Theatre’s Christmas Spectacular, SPECTACULAR? Where you will be treated to every Christmas Season event in ONE production. December 19-23 at The Grand Theatre. Odyssey Dance Theatre’s mission is to provide quality entertainment and artistic excellence in theatrical dance as a professional dance company; to provide employment for Utah’s talented dancers; to exercise and maintain fiscal responsibility and be debt free; and to make theatrical dance more accessible to a wide audience by utilizing current social themes and music.

www.OdysseyDance.com

Mike chats with Chief Impact & Strategy Officer Janell Cerva. Utah Community Action was founded in 1965 to meet the needs of the community, especially individuals experiencing poverty. The mission of Utah Community Action is to empower individuals, strengthen families, and build communities through education and self-reliance programs. We do this through six core programs: Workforce Development, Head Start preschool, HEAT Utility Assistance, Housing & Case Management, Home Weatherization and Nutrition. Each year, Utah Community Action provides these services to approximately 50,000 children and families in our community, giving them the tools needed to attain and sustain self-reliance.

www.UtahCA.org

Mike chats with Artistic Director Adam Sklute. Ballet West has one of the world’s largest ballet-based Education and Outreach programs, reaching over 100,000 children and adults throughout Utah and the Intermountain Region every year. America's 1st Nutcracker Celebrates 80 Years! Ballet West's holiday classic by founder Willam Christensen remains just as fresh and effervescent as its premiere in 1944. Enjoy the rare opportunity to witness an iconic masterpiece that has defined generations. December 6th through the 28th at The Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre.

www.BalletWest.org

Mike chats with Executive Director Chris Croswhite. The Rescue Mission of Salt Lake is a faith-based nonprofit organization established in 1972 to help the homeless and Restore Broken Lives. Today, we have grown to five locations along the Wasatch Front from Ogden to the Salt Lake Valley. We are a safe place where those who are homeless can experience the love of Christ and discover a pathway off the streets. Our desire is to see lives changed as people find faith in Christ and strive to reach goals of sobriety, employment, and housing.

www.RescueSaltLake.org

Mike chats with Executive Director Brandon Harding & Co-Creator and Veteran Anthony Droz. At Veterans in the Wild, our mission is empowering veterans through nature by providing transformative wilderness expeditions that promote healing, resilience, and community. Through veterans wilderness trips, we aim to support veterans in their transition to civilian life, fostering physical and mental well-being, personal growth, and a sense of belonging. Our commitment is to honor their service by offering a sanctuary in nature where they can reconnect with themselves, build lasting camaraderie, and embrace new challenges in a supportive and restorative environment.

www.VeteransInTheWild.org