INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Hot and sweaty, but with a great sense of accomplishment, hoards of volunteers fanned out across Indian River County Saturday morning to tackle a wide variety of projects during the United Way of Indian River County’s annual Day of Caring.
Lending muscle and minds, teams of volunteers assisted nonprofit agencies with much needed improvement projects. Others mentored children instilling the values of community involvement in the next generation.
This was by far the largest Day of Caring to date, with more than 500 volunteers energetically rolling up their sleeves to work on 40 projects at 32 different locations.
“Publix really came out in force this year,” said United Way Day of Caring coordinator Doris Butler. “They gave us over 100 volunteers.”
A few other groups including as Church of Latter Day Saints and Elliot Merrill Community Management also provided multiple teams.
Bank of America and Disney’s Vero Beach Resort sponsored the event and Disney also played host to a group of children from the Boys and Girls Clubs. Children worked side-by-side with Disney “voluntEARS” and team members from Seacoast National Bank and JC Penny on beach cleanups and sea-turtle education.
Projects at several sites included painting, waterway cleanups, landscaping and yard-work, and power washing buildings and vehicles.
Some helped to construct Habitat for Humanity homes, while others disassembled old cribs and assembled new ones at Childcare Resources, stocked pantry shelves at Harvest Food and Outreach, and sorted and priced items at several thrift stores.
“A few new groups, new teams and new organizations came on board this year,” said Butler, adding that most teams are United Way Workplace Partners.
“We’ve been reaching out more to the community than we have in the past and workplace teams have gotten bigger. People from the community have phoned in and said they wanted to participate.”
Habitat for Humanity, the Humane Society, the Indian River Land Trust, the Homeless Family Center’s Second Chance Thrift Store, and VNA Hidden Treasures in Sebastian were all new agencies assisted this year.
The largest concentration of volunteers sweated it out sans air-conditioning in a warehouse space next door to the location of the Homeless Family Center’s Second Chance Thrift Store, which is currently under construction and due to open in November.
“We’ve got about 40 here, and another dozen or so helping out at the Homeless Family Center,” said HFC executive director Lorne Coyle, watching with gratitude as efficient volunteers made quick work of thousands of donated items.
Even before Saturday, the United Way stepped in to have swarms of bees removed from the easement of the Senior Resource Association client who volunteers would assist with yard work, keeping everyone out of harm’s way.
“We want to expand this to help more seniors and the disabled in the community in upcoming years. This year will be the first time we’ve gone to a senior in need” said Butler. “It’s a great thing. I am truly overwhelmed by how caring this community is. I’m really happy at the growth we’ve seen this year and hope to continue reaching out to the community to include everyone in this event.”
“It’s one way to give back,” said volunteer George Watson. “Doing a Day of Caring like this makes giving to the United Way real.”
