Thanks for making 2011 Day of Action a success!
 

On April 6th, 2011, over 180 Day of Action volunteers made our community a better place to live by helping 22 nonprofit agencies. Their efforts were highlighted in this great article from the Herald-Times with photos from the day! 

A big THANKS to all who helped make Day of Action and our Campaign Celebration a success!  And kudos to the Herald-Times for their great coverage of the event, including the involvement of staff from the recently-combined Old National Bank and Monroe Bank.

For the 16th time, Day of Action participants volunteered for a wide variety of projects, including planting gardens, fixing trails, painting, doing yard work, and cleaning trash and graffiti.

They also read to young children at 4 different sites. And, to encourage each child to keep reading, 239 kids got to keep their very own book donated by United Way as part of our Born Learning early childhood initiative.

The projects made a positive impact on the community. Barry Lessow, Executive Director of United Way, commented on the importance Day of Action holds for local nonprofits, “Day of Action is an opportunity to connect volunteers with agencies that help United Way accomplish our goal of ensuring everyone has the building blocks for a better life: education for school and career, a job that provides stable earnings, and life’s essentials. Day of Action provides a good experience for these generous volunteers, and creates a connection that may result in a one-day or a long-term relationship with an important cause.”

Lessow continued “We are grateful to these volunteers and their workplaces, to the nonprofits where they visited for serving our community, and for the support we received from local companies who donated items, services, and gift cards for the event: Master Rental Center, Marsh Supermarket, Bloomington Playwrights Project, Bloomington Sandwich Co., Jimmy John’s, Kroger, ­Moe’s Southwest Grill, Noodles & Company, Penn Station East Coast Subs, Pizza X, and Target generously donated items, services, and gift cards for the event.”

Staff, students, and clients from these organizations donated their time to strengthen the nonprofit sector of our community: 

• Old National Bank and Monroe Bank – a division of Old National Bank
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
• Duke Energy
• Gamma Phi Omega International Sorority
• Human Biology Department of Indiana University
• Indiana University-SPEA, Service Corps
• IU Health Bloomington
• ISU The May Agency
• Kelley Cares
• Nonprofit Leadership Alliance (formerly American Humanics)
• Printpack
• Rogers Group
• The School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA)
• The Service-Learning Program at IUB
• Student United Way
• Transitional Services Inc.
• University Information Technology Services of Indiana University
• Vectren

For more information about Day of Action, and to prepare for Day of Action 2012, please contact Communications Director Jenn Hottell at 812-334-8370.

Thanks again to the volunteers, who showed us all how to Live United!