Austin Young Wins $10,000 for Investing in Community

Live United Spotlight

Austin Young, United Way Donor and Volunteer and Twin Disc Employee

June 17, 2019

Austin Young is an employee of Twin Disc and a regular donor and volunteer for United Way.  On June 14, he was treated to an incredible surprise—he had been randomly selected from all eligible donors as the winner of United Way’s $10,000 sweepstakes. We had a chat with the lucky winner about why he believes in United Way, and here’s what he had to say.

How long have you been a donor for United Way?

This is my first year with Twin Disc, but I’ve been doing it for about two and a half years with previous places of work.

What about United Way keeps you coming back to give that gift?

What I like most about United Way is you get to see your impact more. I mean, you see it with Intern Day of Action and all kinds of other things. There’s just a lot of visual [impact], of “Okay, I’m donating this money, like, where does the money go to?”, and now you get to see that contribution. It’s a great feeling when you go on mission trips, and you’re wearing a United Way shirt, and somebody else is like, “Oh my god.” They give you their whole life story about how they were impacted by United Way. So that’s the one reason why it’s kept me donating and going out of my way to donate.

Have you also volunteered with us before?

I have. For Intern Day of Action, I have. It’s a great experience. I’ve dealt mostly with kids when I do it. You’re helping out at school for one of them; the other one, we were actually in a park. It’s just incredible to see that impact. It’s a great feeling, very rewarding.

First thing that comes into your head, what are you going to do with the money?

Oh, that I have no clue. [laughs] I honestly don’t. I have no idea. I’ve had the same car since high school, so I’m probably gonna put it down as a down payment on my next car. But that’s about it. Other than that, no clue. [laughs]