Hundreds of community members will once again fan out across Centre County for a day of aiding local nonprofits.
Centre County United Way’s 31st annual Day of Caring will be held on Thursday, Oct. 9, bringing together volunteers from throughout the area for a variety of projects ranging from cleaning to landscaping to repairs.
“You have events that happen sometimes 10, 15 years and they just kind of fizzle out,” CCUW Executive Director Megan Evans said at Tuesday Centre County Board of Commissioners meeting. “But this every year, there’s still that enthusiasm and people are excited to come out, which to me just speaks to this community and how giving and engaged people are and how much they want to help these nonprofits who quietly do their work every day, serving thousands of people and kind of fly under the radar. People know and they want to give back and help.”
All nonprofit organizations are eligible to submit proposals for Day of Caring projects, which are vetted and approved. They are then compiled and made available for volunteer registration beginning in early September.
Among the highlights, approximately 400 students from Bellefonte Area High School’s junior and senior classes will take part in projects at Union Cemetery and the Centre County Library and Historical Museum.
Easterseals in State College is “the hottest spot,” with about 50 volunteers registered, Day of Caring coordinator Celesta Powell said. For those who can’t get out for a full day, Centre Furnace Mansion offers opportunities to help that can be accomplished over a lunch hour.
R.H. Marcon also will be replacing a roof on a Strawberry Fields home, their sixth such roofing project for Day of Caring.
Those are just a few of the nonprofits where volunteers will be pitching in.
It’s a big help for organizations that don’t have maintenance and facilities staff to complete needed projects as they arise, Commissioner Mark Higgins said.
“If something breaks they live with it and hopefully someday they’ll raise enough money to fix it,” Higgins said at Tuesday’s meeting, where the commissioners approved a proclamation declaring Oct. 9 as a Day of Caring in Centre County. “Well [Day of Caring] takes care of that, by throwing skilled volunteers at the project with donations to make it happen.”
Commissioner Amber Concepcion said it’s also an opportunity for community members to find nonprofits they may be interested in volunteering with longer term.
“This is just such a great example of how our community can come together to help out organizations that do so much for our community in turn,” Concepcion said. “And one of the things we’ve been emphasizing from the county level is the need for more volunteers to join all of these different nonprofits throughout the county because they really do rely on volunteer organizing. So hopefully some of the folks who come out for Day of Caring might find an organization that they’d be interested in volunteering with on a regular basis.”
New this year, there won’t be an early-morning breakfast before volunteers head out for the day. Instead, an after-project celebration sponsored by PNC will be held at Champs on North Atherton Street.
“People that have been out working all day can come to Champs and have some food and drink and just socialize and talk about what they did all day,” Evans said. “And I think that’s going to be a good time and a little different spin on it.”
Day of Caring is held each year in honor of its founder, the late Colonel Gerald Russell, who while serving on the CCUW Board of Directors was passionate about finding ways to support local charities beyond financial contributions.
“His spirit and memory live on hopefully forever in this project,” Commissioner Steve Dershem. “He was an amazing man. He was very, very influential in the establishment of this project. I just want to once again recognize not only a military hero, but a local hero as well. An amazing individual.”
Volunteer registration for this year’s Day of Caring has closed, but those who are still interested in participating can contact Powell at celesta@ccunitedway.org.
