FHUW's Day of Caring

FOOTHILLS UNITED WAY'S DAY OF CARING CELEBRATES 18 YEARS

August 19, 2011 - Foothills United Way volunteers from all over Boulder and Broomfield counties got a early start picking vegetables, building fences, painting walls, and more.They were all taking part in Day of Caring 2011, the 18th edition of Foothills United Way’s annual volunteer service event. This year’s event featured more than 985 participants, doing 65 projects for local nonprofits and other organizations.

The beginnings for Day of Caring were humble – 18 years ago it was a few dozen volunteers, starting their days with juice and donuts in the United Way parking lot before heading out to complete a handful of projects. Today, planning for Day of Caring begins six months in advance, the annual participation averages around 1,000 volunteers, and the day concludes with a large, sponsored picnic for volunteers that kicks off United Way’s annual fundraising campaign. 

“Our mission is to mobilize people and resources to create a stronger, thriving community, and Day of Caring is a perfect example of that,” said Barbara Pingrey, Foothills United Way’s President and CEO. “People from all over our community, especially from our local businesses, come together each year to make this event a huge success. Whether they’re painting, landscaping or helping in a nonprofit organization’s office, it’s gratifying to see how the volunteers really take ownership of their projects and deliver amazing results.”

The volunteers represent local business and organizations including Amgen, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., The Boulder County Business Report, CableLabs, Covidien, Faegre & Benson LLP, IBM, Lockheed Martin, RICOH, Roche Colorado Corporation, and many more.

In completing today’s projects, the volunteers donated approximately 3,948 hours of work, at a total dollar value of more than $84,300. This year’s Day of Caring projects included:

  • re-staining decks at the Bridgewalk complex for Boulder Housing Partners in Boulder
  • fence-building, landscaping, and painting at the Ed & Ruth Lehman YMCA in Longmont
  • planting flowers, trimming hedges and general cleaning at Bal Swan Children’s Center in Broomfield, in preparation for the first day of school
  • landscaping at the Sister Carmen Community Center food bank/client services location and renovation help at Sister Carmen’s Thrift Store location, both in Lafayette
  • creating Halloween bags and holiday ornaments for Meals on Wheels of Boulder clients
  • wood cutting, painting and bunkhouse repair at the Girls Scouts’ Meadow Mountain Ranch camp in Allenspark.

 
Gold level sponsors for Day of Caring 2011 are: Blue Mountain Arts/SPS Studios, Covidien, Faegre & Benson LLP, FirstBank, IBM, Pasta Jay’s, RICOH, and Roche Colorado.  Bronze Sponsor: Lexmark International. Other sponsor: Longmont United Hospital.