Media Releases

May 2, 2007

Thousands Take Part In Annual United Way Day Of Caring

Volunteers give back to the community by donating their time and talents to more than 500 local projects

Rochester, NY – More than 11,000 people from nearly 130 companies and students from several area school districts took a break from their offices and classrooms today to volunteer as part of United Way’s 15th annual Day of Caring. The teams volunteered their time and talents, working on more than 500 projects in and around Rochester. The projects ranged from basic indoor spring cleaning, to raking, weeding and planting flowers, to painting rooms, building shelves, and waterproofing walls.

In the Swillburg neighborhood, a team from Bank of America helped build a neighborhood gazebo—which was actually funded by a mini grant sponsored by the bank.  Last year, Bank of America set up a $125,000 mini grant fund through United Way, earmarked specifically for small projects that boost neighborhood revitalization.  This volunteer project has come “full circle” for the bank—and the Swillburg Neighborhood Association is thrilled to watch it come together.

“We wanted to show how committed we are to creating positive change throughout the neighborhoods, not just by providing the funding for this project, but by having our volunteers here to see it through to completion,” said Joseph Rulison, Market President for Bank of America, Rochester, New York.

“United Way’s Day of Caring provides an invaluable opportunity to not only accomplish great projects in our neighborhood, like the gazebo we are building in our park, but also the opportunity to meet new people,” said David Chappius, President of the Swillburg Neighborhood Association. “Many of the companies that participate in Day of Caring have never heard of Swillburg or know why it has such a funny name and a pig for a logo, so this is also an opportunity to teach people a little bit about our neighborhood too.”

On average, volunteers each year complete about a million dollars worth of projects—which is incredibly helpful to agencies that may not otherwise be able to afford to have them done.  Since 1993, the Day of Caring has mobilized volunteers and provided them with opportunities to lend their time, talents, and energy at local nonprofit organizations.

For information on volunteer opportunities available in our community year-round, please visit Volunteer Connection by going to www.uwrochester.org and clicking on “How You Can Help”.

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United Way’s mission is to magnify and focus the power of community resources to address our most pressing social needs.