On September 18, 2020, United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley (UWGCV) hosted its annual Day of Caring event. Not unlike many events in 2020, details of Day of Caring looked different than previous years. UWGCV and its partners remained connected to pandemic safety concerns and stretched resources, yet planned an event that followed health orders and gave participants the joy of impact and living united.
“While many events this year have decided to cancel, our team thought it was important to imagine a way to safely revise Day of Caring,” stated UWGCV Executive Director Andy Neborak. “I’m proud of the impact we’ll make in partnership with Feed My People and also that we’ll welcome small, physically distanced volunteer groups to do important work in our community parks. Rather than dwell on what would be limited by the effects of COVID-19, we asked ‘What can we do’ and together with our partners we were able to find hopeful and adaptive ways forward.”
Feed My People food bank partnered with UWGCV to schedule small volunteer groups each day for a two-week span. To date, 900 kids meals have been packed and 1,000 pounds of pasta have been prepared for easy distribution. Total impact numbers will be shared on the UWGCV website and social media pages at the completion of the project.
Small volunteer groups are scheduled to assist in various parks today in Eau Claire and Chippewa counties to round out Day of Caring activities. Work locations include Irvine, Riverfront, and Casper Park in Chippewa Falls along with Carson Park in Eau Claire.
The presenting sponsor of Day of Caring is UnitedHealthcare and supporting sponsors include BMO Harris Bank, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Mason Companies, Inc., Mayo Clinic Health System, Royal Credit Union, and Wipfli. These community leaders adapted together with UWGCV and will provide over 200 volunteers to complete this year’s service.
To all of our volunteers at past Day of Caring events, we look forward to seeing you next year! Thank you for your support in making past Day of Caring events successful.
