The Chippewa Valley’s 23rd Annual “Day of Caring” lent a hand – or hands – at almost 50 project sites across Chippewa and Eau Claire counties on Friday, with more than 920 volunteers involved.
Over 40 nonprofit organizations as well as individuals were assisted with painting, landscaping, maintenance and repair projects. The effort was organized and coordinated by United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley (UWGCV).
The UWGCV estimated that 3,200 volunteer hours would be invested in the day, which is the largest single-day volunteer event in the Chippewa Valley.
More than 85 volunteer teams went to locations like Bolton Refuge House, Irvine Park, Trinity Equestrian Center, Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Beacon House and multiple elementary schools. Some provided assistance at various residential locations as well as at the Chippewa Valley Free Clinic, Beaver Creek Reserve and the Boys and Girls Club.
In addition, UWGCV and United Healthcare once again partnered to provide meals to community members in need. This year, the two organizations worked directly with Feed My People Food Bank to support weekend backpack meal programs that provide meal bags on Fridays during the school year to 2,500 students who may struggle with hunger on weekends when school meals are not available.
The program is active in 10 area school districts. Friday’s “Feed Our Kids” Day of Caring project had 160 United Healthcare volunteers signed up to portion and package 80,048 servings of oatmeal and granola, starting at 9 a.m. at the Eau Claire Indoor Sports Center, which donated the use of its facility.
Proceeds from “Day of Caring” T-shirts sold by United Way raised more than $1,600 to supply over 1,300 milk vouchers to the backpack program. This is equal to more than 10,000 servings of milk.
N0te: United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley has supported the human services of Chippewa and Eau Claire counties for over 50 years. It brings community members and resources together to ensure that children in the Chippewa Valley will enter school ready to succeed, Chippewa Valley residents will achieve self-sufficiency, and the mental health of Chippewa Valley residents will improve.