Living United

There’s a buzz in the air at U.Va.

Folks are starting to ask about the next United Way Day of Caring.  When is it?  How can I sign up? 

Employees here look forward to this day every year. It’s a chance to spend time with colleagues and to give back to the community.  With all this goodwill, it makes my job as the United Way Day of Caring Coordinator for U.Va. employees, easy and fun, because our volunteers really put their hearts into their projects. 

Last year, I heard about a team who was assigned to a project at a school. The school was lacking in necessary supplies for the task, but the team couldn’t walk away and see the project go unfinished.  The team acted swiftly and managed to get all of the supplies donated and completed the project that day. 

Another volunteer worked to restore a nature trail at an elementary school, and soon after began as a “Book Buddy” at the same school.  He says, “I loved establishing a relationship with a young reader and seeing them improve.  It was very rewarding and fulfilling, and it was fun.” 

Many volunteers say they wish they could do this more often.  But while the Day of Caring is just one day, relationships grow, and the community continues to benefit all year through.  The Day of Caring is an opportunity for so much more.

U.Va. Human Resources setting up for the a carnival at WorkSource Enterprises.

 

U.Va. Housing Division painting the exterior of The Paramount.

 

U.Va. Facilities Management spreading mulch at Camp Holiday Trails.

Posted by Careen Waterman, U.Va. Community Relations

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

A Sense of Love

I just received an email from Shaele Wood of the United Way asking me to photograph the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring on Wednesday, September 23rd, and immediately all five of my senses kicked into gear.  I am, of course, delighted to offer my photographic skills to document this event; it is the event I most recall and look forward to covering each year.

Instantly, my first sense is awakened in seeing all 2,500 plus volunteers.  Some are in colorful “team” shirts, others are dressed in their “finest “work clothes ready for a hearty days’ work. This outpouring is typical of the Charlottesville community.  When a need arises, help from so many caring individuals from various walks of life, is on its way.

You can also feel their excitement.  Just like a “kid in a candy store”, they are ready and eager to help out their fellow neighbors. No matter what the upcoming task, from painting to shredding documents, their level of enthusiasm is always top notch! 
 
And, oh, you can hear joy emerge from the “pep rally” speakers all the way to the State Farm Gospel Choir.  Your heart is pounding with enthusiasm. The singers who have performed for the last several years from State Farm Insurance Company are ‘in tune’ with getting the “troops” fired up for their mission. 

I may have forgotten to talk about the taste of the rally! How could I forget something so amazing! A breakfast fit for a king, a queen, and all their subjects! There is nothing like starting the day off right with a hearty breakfast and a full tummy. It makes one want to work that extra little bit harder!

And speaking of working…There is nothing like the smell of fresh paint to wake up the senses!  The Day of Caring volunteers can be seen cleaning windows, clearing shrubs, digging holes, sawing lumber, and putting up dry wall. There are labors to be shared by one and all.  This, my friends, is a labor of love.

The United Way Day of Caring is a one-day festival that means so much for this community.  It always hits home for me for many reasons.   The first reason is that I was the paperboy many years ago for the United Way when it was called the Community Chest, right here in Charlottesville. Secondly, Mr. Laurence E. Richardson was a dear friend of mine who cared so much for the community and its neighbors.   Finally, I find that even though we have five senses,  the volunteers who participate in this day actually create a  “sixth sense” of which we should all be very proud -- love!  Love for our Central Virginia area and our fellow citizens! After all, aren’t we all our brothers’ keepers?!

Thank you for allowing me to share my perspective and insight into the Day of Caring.  I hope that maybe it inspired you to want to share your time and spread a little love.

Posted by Guest Blogger Jim Carpenter, Master Photographer, Gitchell’s Studio, Inc.

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

Call for Projects!

We're excited to share the new PSA  that Charlottesville Newsplex created for the 2009 United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring.  Anchor/News Director Jim Hanchett asks nonprofits and schools to contact the Volunteer Center for help in registering or developing projects.  Thank you, Newsplex!

You may have also heard my new PSA with Jay James playing on the Charlottesville Radio Group stations.  Listen here if you haven't heard it.  The message in both of these PSA's is the same: Day of Caring project registration is now open for nonprofits and schools.  It's not just about painting a wall or planting a bush on Wednesday, September 23, 2009.  Day of Caring is about promoting long-term volunteerism in your agency, building partnerships with local businesses and sharing your agency's mission with our community.

Consider the nonprofits where you work, volunteer or those you advocate for and encourage them to register one or more projects.  With nearly 3,000 volunteers expected to sign up, we're looking for approximately 300 projects of all sizes and types.  Go to the Day of Caring website to register your projects or your volunteer team.  Download the Project Development Toolkit if you need project ideas.  Additionally, United Way staff is eager to help you brainstorm.  Call 434.972.1705 or email swood@unitedwaytja.org. 

Posted by Shaele Wood.

United Way’s 2008 Day of Caring a Success for Two AHIP Clients

  On the 2008 United Way Day of Caring, Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP) partnered with volunteers from State Farm Insurance and the UVA School of Architecture to help make repairs at two homes in the City of Charlottesville.  The use of volunteers at AHIP jobs helps cut labor costs so that funds can be used to serve more people in the area.  Employees of State Farm Insurance were able to give a home a “face lift,” with a new roof and fresh coat of paint on the exterior.  Meanwhile, on the other side of town, employees of the UVA School of Architecture helped prep the interior of a home before AHIP would begin more extensive repairs at the residence.  At the end of the day, not only had crucial repairs been made, but the lives of many had been touched by the spirit of service.

Posted by Guest Blogger, Jenifer Klippel, Albemarle Housing Improvement Program

From the volunteer perspective:

A colleague at the U.Va. School of Architecture suggested that for our Day of Caring Project we consider helping a beloved member of the custodial staff who had inherited a house that needed both expensive cosmetic and structural repairs to become livable. I learned that in order to create an official Day of Caring Project we would need an organization to host and sponsor our efforts. All of us were thrilled when Shaele Wood at United Way facilitated AHIP’s partnering with us for this project. Though we were only able to spend half a day volunteering at the site due to our busy academic schedules, it was a fantastic morning in so many ways. AHIP provided the materials and know-how we needed to prep and paint the master bedroom and an upstairs hall closet, and one of our team members brought a lawn mower which he used to spruce up the yard. It was an opportunity for us to know one another as community members rather than simply co-workers, and it was a rare moment when we could give back to someone who is often invisible among us in our daily work. We were all so grateful for the experience and the extra effort put forward by The United Way, AHIP, and the University of Virginia School of Architecture to make our participation possible.

Posted by Guest Blogger, Derry Voysey Wade, U.Va. School of Architecture

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

One Enchanted Evening

We appreciate the irony that our mission is to serve community members with the greatest need, or at the greatest risk, yet Caroline Emerson and I spent several hours last evening in the world class, storybook environment of Keswick Hall helping to further that mission.

We are privileged to have Keswick host and sponsor our Keswick-United Way Golf Classic, which is on July 27 this year. Last night NewsRadio 1070 WINA, another tournament sponsor (along with State Farm Insurance) broadcast its signature sports show, “The Best Seat in the House” with our favorite sports host, Jay James, live from the terrace of  Fossett’s bar. We called it our tournament registration party.

You would think it could not get any better than sitting on the terrace overlooking the Arnold Palmer designed golf course and infinity pool on a beautiful summer evening, but it did. Jay’s special guest was University of Virginia head baseball coach Brian O’Connor, fresh from his team’s amazing journey to the College World Series.  He sets the example of class, sportsmanship, drive and determination for coaches at all levels of sports. I admit to asking him to sign a baseball for my family, as we have followed his teams for several years and stayed up way past our bedtimes several nights during their post season run.

Chef Craig Hartman also stopped by for an interview and brought with him some amazing crab cakes – Jay James certainly won’t forget this remote broadcast anytime soon! Coy Barefoot, host of “Charlottesville Right Now” is next in line for the royal treatment as he will also be broadcasting live from Keswick, probably on July 9. Then Rick Daniels and Jane Foy will get their chance the morning of the tournament.

We joke about what a tough job we have when we have the opportunity to “work” at Keswick, but we are serious about doing whatever we can to bring together the resources to bring about positive changes in people’s lives. The funds raised through this golf tournament will help children and families, individuals needing access to health care and prescriptions, those working toward self-sufficiency and many others in our community. Won’t you join us on July 27 at Keswick as a golfer and/or a Hole Sponsor?

Posted by Kim Connolly.