United Way for Spoon River Country participated in the National Day of Action again this year. This is the fourth year for this amazing venture of volunteerism. The Day of Action took place Saturday, June 11th, 2011 and this event is an annual day of volunteerism mobilizing local volunteers to complete community service projects throughout Fulton County.
Various tasks were tackled this day including painting, landscaping, gutter cleaning, ramp building, and roofing. These tasks were taken on in order to not only promote volunteerism, but to also make low cost upgrades to area agencies that do not have money their budgets to pay for labor. Projects were completed at four local non-profit agencies, Camp Big Sky, Fulton-Mason Crisis Service, YMCA, and YWCA. Almost 30 volunteers spent their morning volunteering their time and talents to these very deserving agencies, assisting them with projects to enhance their offices.
Our volunteers are individuals and groups from local companies, organizations and the community. All ages, including youth and adults, were welcome to participate as volunteers in this event. A special thanks to the United Way Board of Directors and their families, the Chuck Taylor-State Farm Team, Bill Willhelm Construction, and our volunteers who donate their time to the United Way year round!
Here is what a few of our volunteers had to say about their experience with the Day of Action this year:
Shelley Courtney from Chuck Taylor-State Farm Team who volunteered at the Fulton-Mason Crisis Service:
"Our group is in a consensus about our jobs…they were
great! We started off right by laying down rubber mulch on the play ground and
even though we wanted to we did not have time to spare to test out the play
equipment with the new mulch to see how much fun the kids would have. After
that it was on to beautification. Cleaning windows, scrubbing siding and
planting flowers. Our resident green thumb Denise Ayers was on hand to make
sure and whip us into shape when it came to moving the flowers around and replanting
them. The MVPs have to go out to Kyle Hazelman and Jeff Fuller for installing the gutter
guards. Once we showed them how they were installed they jumped in head first
and did a great job. Team Chuck Taylor appreciated the hard work of Jeff and
Kyle. All in all it was a great morning getting to give back while having
a good time."
Dave Demler from the United Way board who volunteered at the YMCA:
"I had the absolute privilege of helping the YMCA during the United
Way's Day of Action. This being my first experience volunteering with
the United Way
I really had no idea what to expect but can assure you by the end of
the day, the experience exceeded all expectations. I was impressed by
the organization of the event, the number of volunteers and more than
anything, the willingness to make a difference. Everyone I worked with
at the YMCA worked hard and really seemed like they were enjoying
themselves. I was only able to work for two hours but the impact and
the difference we made in that short amount of time was amazing and gave
me a great sense of pride in myself and our organization. This Day of
Action was an amazing experience and I can't wait to do it again in the
future."
Teresa McConkey from the United Way board who volunteered at the YWCA:
"The YWCA was able to accomplish getting the roof replaced on their Ingersoll Building with the help of volunteers from the United Way
Day of Action. There was a group of 6 volunteers that shingled, did
some landscaping and painting. The group worked with the Bill Willhelm Construction and Jeannie Arndt from the YWCA to accomplish their tasks. Jeannie was ever so grateful for the projects that were completed and expressed just how much money the volunteer labor saved their organization that now can go back into their much needed programs."
