CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than 1,200 volunteers battled the heat Wednesday to get much-needed projects done during the 21st annual United Way of Central West Virginia Day of Caring.
The volunteers could be found at dozens of sites in Kanawha, Putnam, Boone, Logan, Clay and Braxton counties doing things for non-profits to save them money and spruce up their properties.
“I love going out and seeing all of the orange, all of the folks that are volunteering at different non-profits,” Vandalia Health CAMC Vice President of Human Resources Kristi Snyder told MetroNews as she and several other team Vandalia Health CAMC team members did some landscaping at the United Way office in Charleston. “What we’ve found over the years is that we fall in love with the non-profit and we keep going back to it.”
United Way of Central West Virginia Community Impact Director Kerri Cooper said it’s invaluable to know that 1,250 individual across six counties gave up their days “to be part of that non-profit world that’s never seen.”
Volunteer Suzanne Patterson was stuffing mailers at the United Way in Charleston.
“This is one of the organizations that I volunteer for and just feel good about helping. It frees them up to other work if we do this menial work,” Patterson said.
Vandalia Health CAMC had the largest participants. There 228 workers making up 15 work teams, Snyder said.
“Being part of our community is a critical component of our mission and it’s very near and dear to the executive leadership team, so this is one of the events that we take great pride in,” Snyder said.
Cooper said the United Way and other non-profits appreciate the work.
“To save on our dollars, we don’t pay someone to come in and landscape, so at least once or twice a year some volunteer group is kind enough to come in and do some our landscaping,” Cooper said. “Our shrubs haven’t been trimmed in nine months or more, so they are a little wild.”
MetroNews Reporter Daniel Woods contributed to this story.