Day of Caring 2017 Attracts 600+ Volunteers

Over 600 Volunteers Participate in United Way of Lake County’s 25th Annual Day of Caring Thursday, June 28, 2017
 

June 29, 2017 (Mentor, OH) – Over 600 volunteers participated in United Way of Lake County’s (UWLC) 25^th Annual Day of Caring on Thursday, June 28, 2017. The day kicked off with a 7:30 am pancake breakfast at Lakeland Community College in Breakers Dining Hall. Following this, volunteers dispersed to begin the projects they adopted.

For UWLC’s Day of Caring, they mobilize the power of a large group of volunteers from Lake County businesses and organizations to make a meaningful impact in the community by pairing them with projects submitted by non-profits. This year, thirty companies, organizations and groups adopted over 40 community projects.

According to Tami Lewis, UWLC Director of Marketing and Communications, “Day of Caring allows volunteers to see first-hand the work local nonprofits do every day. It is a few hours of service that is intended to provide a connection that promotes volunteerism throughout the year. “  

Volunteers worked on a wide variety of projects throughout Lake County which included painting, weeding, gardening,  spreading mulch, planting, yard clean-up, replacing an old playground base, installing a drainage system in wooded hillside trails, hosting socials for groups of seniors and children, and more.

Projects took place throughout the following 8 Lake County communities: Fairport Harbor, Mentor, Painesville, Perry, Wickliffe, Willoughby, Willoughby Hills and Willowick. Project completion times varied from a couple of hours to a half or full day.

Over the 25 years UWLC has made Day of Caring possible, they’ve recruited and paired more than 15,000 volunteers with over 1,250 community projects. “Day of Caring is just another way we work to impact our community, and we’re proud that it has saved our nonprofits thousands of dollars and that the lives of so many people have been positively impacted by the work the volunteers have so generously completed over the last 25 years,” stated Lewis. 

“Bringing community together to impact lives is our role, and Day of Caring is a snapshot of what we do all year long – galvanizing people around solutions to build a stronger community. I’m so thankful for all of the hundreds of volunteers who take part. It just shows how deeply connected and caring the residents of Lake County are,” said Jennifer McCarty, President and CEO of UWLC. “We are especially grateful to Avery Dennison. Nearly half of all volunteers who participated this year are from their organization,” she said.

Avery Dennison provided 280 team members to volunteer. They took on a total of four projects – two of which were enormous undertakings for the YMCA of Lake County’s Outdoor Y in Perry.  According to Bob Diak, COO of the Lake County YMCA, “Due to the efforts of the Avery Dennison volunteers, we saved approximately $12,000, which is forty percent of the total cost of these projects.”

Dick Bennett, CEO and Executive Director of the Lake County YMCA said, “The YMCA has benefited from United Way’s Day of Caring for many years and we are grateful to them for pairing our projects with volunteers. It’s a great service to us and the community.  I’m especially appreciative for this year’s project pairing with volunteers from Avery Dennison, who took on two significant, labor-intensive projects most would easily shy away from.”

One of the projects for the Outdoor Y was completed one week early on June 21, 2017. During this project, 85 Avery Dennison volunteers replaced the base of a 70’ x 56’ playground with 175 tons of new pea gravel, approximately 10-11 truckloads of material. The second project for the Outdoor Y was completed yesterday, and approximately 130 volunteers from Avery Dennison installed new drainage systems to pull surface water off two wooded hillside trails that lead from the soccer fields to the Grand River.

Another set of 25 Avery Dennison volunteers worked at the Mentor Senior Center weeding 17 flower beds, spreading mulch, trimming bushes, edging beds and planting. And the fourth and final project their volunteers took on was for the Cleveland Food Bank, where 40 of their team members sorted and bagged food and prepared meals for delivery.

Below is a list of all of the organizations and groups who completed Day of Caring projects:
 

Adopted projects The adopted projects Some of the nonprofit projects that Day of Caring volunteers have adopted include those from:

About United Way of Lake County

We help people.

United Way of Lake County works to measurably improve the quality of people’s lives in Lake County. We do this by fighting for the education, income and financial stability of every person in our community.  We believe these to be the building blocks of a good life. Giving to United Way is the best way to help the most people. Learn more about us by visiting www.uwlc.org.