Volunteers needed for June 19 ‘Day of Caring’

Kishwaukee United Way’s Day of Caring committee is planning its 10th annual community-wide Day of Caring, scheduled for Thursday, June 19.

This event promotes teamwork while giving people an opportunity to volunteer and make a difference in the community. The event was moved to June several years ago to encourage more youth and family participation. Staff has done outreach in the schools and at volunteer fairs throughout the year in hopes of seeing the number of young participants increase this year.

Day of Caring matches teams of volunteers from businesses, schools, NIU, faith communities and community groups with non-profit agencies in DeKalb County who are in need of hands-on help.

“We’re very excited about Day of Caring 2014,” co-chair Caroline Lowery says.

“Day of Caring has become a huge event coordinating over 200 volunteers to assist with over 40 projects throughout DeKalb County over the past nine years. We hope for even more volunteers this year and are focusing efforts on reaching out to non-profit agencies that have previously not been involved with the United Way. Any nonprofit agency in the County can call on our volunteers to do needed work such as washing windows, gardening, data entry, technology assistance, painting, or other projects that just haven’t gotten done.” If you have a project you are interested in staffing, contact United Way to see if we can complete it.

Day of Caring is the official kick-off for the Kishwaukee United Way 2014-2015 campaign season.

“This event is a perfect way to bring to light all of the wonderful things Kishwaukee United Way does for our community,” says Colleen Bredeson, Day of Caring committee member. “Not-for-profit agencies like Voluntary Action, where I work, and United Way need volunteers in addition to financial support. People may not realize they can contribute to organizations important to them without writing a check. It is fun to connect people to organizations like as Voluntary Action Committee, the DeKalb Area Women’s Center and KishHealth System Hospice, just to name a few.”

Members of the Day of Caring committee are:

• Colleen Bredeson, Voluntary Action Center;
• Lisa Cumings, Kish Health System;
• Heather Eade, Kishwaukee Family YMCA;
• Caroline Lowery, NB&T Square Branch;
• Peggy LeMieux, ReSurface Pros;
• Rosa Marquez, U.S. Cellular;
• Donna Westergren, Fox Title;
• Lucero Martinez, NIU Office of Student Engagement & Experiential Learning;
• Destiny McDonald, NIU Student Involvement & Leadership Development;
• Dawn Littlefield, United Way director; and
• Jackie DiNatale, United Way coordinator of Outreach and Finance.

For more information, including volunteer or project sign-up forms, call (815) 756-7522 or email info@kishwaukeeunitedway.com.