United Way of Hancock County is seeking volunteers and service project requests for the 23rd Annual Days of Caring. Teams and individuals are encouraged to sign up.
The United Way Days of Caring will occur from May 1 through May 5 and will focus on projects for nonprofit organizations. Each year, during United Way Days of Caring, hundreds of volunteers from local companies and organizations form teams and complete projects for local nonprofit agencies that have submitted a project request to United Way. In 2016, 1,129 volunteers made up 202 teams that completed projects for 40 local organizations. The volunteers worked a total of 4,516 hours, providing nonprofit organizations in Hancock County with labor worth $106,397. The dollar figure is based on the most recent Ohio volunteer hourly dollar value of $23.56 per hour. The dollar amount is provided by Independent Sector, the leadership network for nonprofits, foundations, and corporations committed to advancing the common good.
United Way of Hancock County is encouraging corporate and community volunteers to devote at least four hours out of one workday to complete a service project at a local nonprofit organization. United Way views company volunteerism as a way to bolster team spirit among participating employees, increase company morale, expose the company to the community, and provide employees with a greater understanding of how a commitment of time and money makes a difference.
Past projects have included; taking inventory of supplies, preparing agency mailings, landscaping for different organizations, painting inside and out, as well as cleaning and mulching trails for local parks and nonprofit campgrounds, preparing community gardens for planting, cleaning nonprofit vehicles and buses, washing windows, shredding, taking inventory, general office work, washing kennels, and cleaning churches. United Way Days of Caring is open to all local nonprofit organizations including schools and churches. To sign up as an agency with projects, as a corporate team or individual volunteer visit http://liveunitedhancockcounty.org/days-caring. Deadline for Days of Caring team registration is 5 p.m. on April 13. Deadline for agency projects is 5 p.m. on April 21.
This year, United Way of Hancock County is partnering with the Findlay Ministerial Association’s Backyard Mission Trip project. Some of the teams of volunteers will be completing projects not completed during the Backyard Mission Trip on April 22. This is the first year that Days of Caring volunteers will be assisting with the projects in homes through Backyard Mission Trip. Individuals who are interested or have a project for the Backyard Mission Trip should go to http://findlayma.org for more information.