United Way’s Day Of Action In Stamford Mobilizes Hundreds Of Volunteers

Service projects were completed at 12 nonprofit agencies throughout the city of Stamford on Wednesday, June 11 and during the last two weeks of June.

“Volunteers are the foundation of every successful organization and every thriving community,” said Kim Morgan, CEO of United Way of Western Connecticut.

"In addition to being a wonderful day of giving back for the many volunteers participating, Day of Action also provides a financial benefit to the nonprofits hosting the projects. These projects can potentially save the organizations thousands of dollars in costly, but necessary maintenance projects, enabling valuable and limited resources to be used for direct services to the organizations’ clients."

Area companies have signed up for projects such as cleaning up playgrounds, landscaping, painting, and planting gardens. In addition to the volunteer efforts, local businesses have donated thousands of dollars worth of materials and supplies in support of Day of Action projects. According to The Independent Sector’s 2013 National Volunteer Service formula, the established benchmark for volunteer service value, this one day of volunteering represents more than $32,000 in economic value to the Stamford community.

Some of the work done for projects on the Day of Action included:

• Nestlé Waters employees cleaned up for the Mill River Collaborative: A group of nearly 50 volunteers from Nestlé Waters will spendt the day sprucing up a playground, fertilizing and planting native plants in a garden and cleaning up the river at Mill River Collaborative as part of their Day of Action project. To accommodate the company’s schedule, their Day of Action will take place on June 25.
• Frontier Communications Employees cleaned up the the grounds at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center: On Day of Action, 16 volunteers from Frontier Communications helped with a landscaping project at the Wheels in the Woods Picnic area of the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. Volunteers planted native shrubs along the perimeters of the picnic area, spread woodchips in the planted areas to control weeds, and spread stone dust on the picnic area surface.
• Northeast Utilities employees spruced up the Shelter for the Homeless: As their Day of Action project, 15 volunteers from Northeast Utilities spent the day sprucing up the exterior of Pacific House with some plants and also helped to sanitize all of the emergency beds at the shelter.

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