Support Education by Participating in Day of Caring

You have an opportunity to support ’s work in education on Days of Caring.

This is your invitation to take action by volunteering on the United Way Day of Caring during the first week of October. This year, volunteers are invited to participate in projects at schools throughout Middlesex County. Projects may include storytelling and reading with kids, leading arts and crafts
projects, painting a mural, installing smartboards, or planting a garden.

The United Way Day of Caring is an opportunity to advance the common good by engaging individuals and businesses in meaningful volunteer activities, right in their own backyard. Middlesex United Way held its first Day of Caring in 1995 when 34 employees in Middletown volunteered at just five nonprofit organizations. Since that time, Day of Caring has engaged nearly 4,000 volunteers from local companies and organizations at hundreds of projects in towns and communities throughout the county.

Every year, United Way selects one of our focus areas (education, income, health or housing) for Day of Caring so that we can make a measurable and very real impact on one issue or need. By mobilizing organizations and volunteers this way, we create lasting change that extends beyond a single day.

In past years on Day of Caring, United Way has:

• Helped to build a Habitat for Humanity home;
• Installed Born Learning Trails, a set of fun and physical activities for parents and caregivers to do with their children, in nine towns in Middlesex County;
• Run food drives at businesses and grocery stores throughout Middlesex County in order to stock pantry shelves;
• Assisted seniors with projects around their homes and in senior centers; and
• Hosted Project Homeless Connect, a “one-stop shop” for individuals that are homeless seeking medical and personal care, referrals, social service needs, and information about housing, employment, and financial assistance.

Day of Caring is a great chance to help the community in which you live and work while making a difference, get connected to a local school, and improve the learning environment for children.

Volunteer projects also make a terrific team-building exercise for employees at your workplace or with your civic group.

If you or your group is interested in volunteering on Day of Caring, go to http://www.middlesexunitedway.org/activities/day-caring for more information or to register online. Volunteer projects generally last 2-4 hours in the morning and will take place during the first week of October. It is up to each school to determine which day suits them best.

Or, if your school would like to host an enthusiastic and energetic group of volunteers to complete a project, contact United Way at (860) 346-8695 to sign up.

Live United!