Day of Caring

Hundreds of volunteers spread out throughout the area today to perform a variety of tasks for charities and other civic groups as part of United Way's Day of Caring.

Among the projects, members of the Rotary Club built a new tool shed for the community garden behind the Youth Center off State Street. The garden's organizers had applied for a grant to buy the building materials and the club went a step further, sending over a volunteer construction crew as well.

Other volunteers at the garden helped replace about a third of the raised beds with new, deeper beds, which will make it easier for gardeners to grow carrots and other root vegetables.

There were dozens of projects countywide.

Along with the efforts at the community garden are pictures of the annual Lions Club bicycle repair at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle, with the bikes going to clients of Arc of Genesee Orleans, and a project by the Batavia Improvement Association to chalk the sidewalks of Main Street with positive art and messages.

Press release:

On Wednesday, May 17, the Genesee County United Way will be employing the resources of 400+ voluteers for the 10^th Annual Day of Caring.

The United Way Day of Caring provides local businesses with volunteer opportunities throughout Genesee County where their employees can harness their energies to make Genesee County a better place to live.

More than 35 nonprofit agencies will benefit from volunteer support to paint, landscape, and perform general beautification projects. 

This year’s event will feature a record number of volunteers. What started out as 70 enthusiastic people 10 years ago has grown to be a signature Genesee County event. A total of 427 volunteers from 38 local businesses and organizations will participate in what is destined to be a great example of people paying it forward in Genesee County.

The kick-off event at Dwyer Stadium at 8 a.m. is sponsored by Lawley Genesee and includes breakfast donated by Batavia Dunkin Donuts and cheers performed by each volunteer team.

Following a great day of hard work at one of 35 worksites, the volunteers will partake in a wrap-up celebration at Terry Hills, sponsored by Oakwood Hills and UMMC. Stories will be told, a slide show of the day will be shown and all will have a good time!

It is estimated that more than 3,200 people hours will be contributed throughout the day with an estimated $48,000 in labor costs provided -- perhaps the largest single volunteering day in Genesee County!

Hundreds of Genesee County residents spread out throughout the community today to provide volunteer labor for organizations during United Way's annual Day of Caring.

Above, staff from Graham's manufacturing plant flowers for an elderly resident in Batavia. The flowers and mulch were donated by Pudgie's and the Home Depot.

We also have pictures of employees of Tompkins Financial at the Batavia Peace Garden, members of Kiwanis and Leadership Genesee 2011 at the Youth Center and the Community Garden, and the Lions Club at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle fixing bikes for Genesee ARC.

Group photo by Kevin Carlson, owner of Carlson Studio.

Press release:

On May 18, the Genesee County United Way will be employing the resources of 350+ voluteers for the 9^th Annual Day of Caring. The United Way Day of Caring provides local businesses with volunteer opportunities throughout Genesee County where their employees can harness their energies to make Genesee County a better place to live.

This year there are more than 35 nonprofit agencies that will benefit from volunteer support to paint, landscape and perform general beautification projects.

The kick-off event at Dwyer Stadium is sponsored by Lawley Genesee. It starts at 8 a.m. and includes breakfast and cheers performed by each volunteer team. There's an official ceremony at 8:30 and a team photo will be taken as is customary before the day's work begins. People fan out to work on various projects and then wrap up by meeting at 3 p.m. at Terry Hills Restaurant and Banquet Facility on Clinton Street Road. Stories will be told, a slide show of the day will be shown and all will have a good time!

It is estimated that a total of more than 3,200 people hours will be contributed throughout the day with an estimated $48,000 in labor costs provided. Perhaps the largest single volunteering day in Genesee County!

For more information you can email UW Regional Director Erik Fix at erik.fix@uwrochester.org or call 585-356-2814.

This morning, scores of local residents gathered at Dwyer Stadium before fanning out around the community to provide volunteer labor to several organizations for spring cleanup and restoration projects as part of the 2015 United Way Day of Caring. We have pictures from the YMCA, Centennial Park, Peace Garden and Genesee ARC.

Bottom photo of the group at Dwyer is a submitted photo.

Volunteers from throughout the county turned out today for the United Day of Caring and provided free labor for several local projects.

Above, members of the Lions Club outside Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle with the dozens of bikes they spent the day getting into working order for needy children and adults. Some of the bikes were taken in by Batavia PD after being found abandoned and never claimed and others were put out as garbage and picked up Genesee ARC. Many of the bikes will be returned to ARC clients.

Pictured, from front: John Huntzinger, Chuck Brenner, Bob Swanson, Tom Clark, Pier Chipollone, Dave Cuttia, John Roach and Van Scoy.

Denise Danzig-Rotolo at GO ART!

Ginny Tiedi at GO ART!

Tiede shows how to make a pair of pink bunnies using a bloom from a bleeding heart.

Glenn Simon at GO ART!

Eric Olson and Joe DiSalvo at Kiwanis Park.

Gilbert Mulcahy at Kiwanis Park.

Matt Gray at the community garden.

Denise Young at the basketball courts behind the Batavia Youth Bureau.

Group photo from this morning at Dwyer Stadium by Kevin Carlson of Carlson's Studio.

For the Day of Caring, we stopped by Kiwanis Park, where volunteers are building the inclusive playground, and the Batavia Youth Bureau, which is getting a set of new raised garden beds for the community garden.

There were 382 people who signed up for the United Way Day of Caring today, but Susie Boyce thinks more people than that are participating because organizers ordered 425 T-shirts and they ran out.

The volunteers will work on 32 projects today, which amounts to about $36,000 in labor contributions.

The group from Genesee ARC.

The Kiwanis Club of Batavia.

Joe Saco sang the National Anthem and America the Beautiful.

Last year, Amber, on the right, received a bicycle that had been reconditioned by volunteers at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycles. Today, she read a message about how much the bike has meant to her to help her get around town and go to and from her job. Shelley Falitico, from Genesee ARC, is with her.

Some people volunteer on a daily or weekly basis. Other people would like to volunteer but fear they don't have the time to make a regular commitment to any one cause.

If you're in that second group of people mark May 8 on your calendar. It's a day just about custom made for you.

You can spend the day making a meaningful contribution to your community without becoming burdened by an ongoing commitment.

May 8 is United Way's "Day of Caring," when community volunteers -- both the ongoing kind and the one-day kind -- come together to help local charities and civic groups complete necessary projects.

"At the core and essence of it, that's what it's about," said Genesee County United Way Director Erik Fix. "You take a day, one day, and you do what you can to give back to your community for a day. Folks want to make a difference in this economy and this is the day to do it."

Last year, 304 Genesee County residents participated in the Day of Caring, which was another new record, and at least that many, if not more will be needed again this year for the nearly 50 projects lined up by the Genesee County United Way.

Many of the projects are much like projects in previous years -- spring garden clean up at UMMC, downtown clean up for the BID, and general clean up at the Office for the Aging -- and while those are important projects, there's some new ones this year that are drawing extra attention.

Chief among them is the installation of new equipment at Kiwanis Park for the new inclusive playground.

Only about 50 volunteers are needed for that project, Fix said, and there's already more demand than spaces.

And since all projects are important, Fix hopes volunteers can get steered to any of the other projects.

That may be building raised bed boxes for the new community garden at the Batavia Youth Bureau, creating a vegetable garden at Eagle Start Housing, fixing bikes for ARC at Adam Miller or helping Habitat for Humanity start a new housing project.

Other choices might be doing work for Genesee ARC, the Town of Bergen, Notre Dame High School, the YMCA and the YWCA, the Gillam Grant Community Center, the Peace Garden, Go Art or the Elba Historical Society.

The range of projects is so broad, every volunteer is likely to be able to step forward and help with something of interest.

"These projects are the ones that agencies don't have the time or manpower to get done," Fix said.

The usual big groups of volunteers, from businesses such as Chapin and civic groups such as Rotary and Kiwanis, have already filled out their volunteer forms, but in the next few weeks, Fix said he expects the smaller groups and single individuals will step forward.

Usually about this time in the process, he said, two or three people who aren't affiliated with a larger organization will say to each other, "hey, let's do this," and they come forward.

The United Way can be reached at (585) 343-8141.

Yesterday, as part of the United Way Day of Caring, members of the Batavia Lions Club showed up at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycles and whipped 25 bikes into shape for local charities, including Genesee ARC. Near the end of the day, four clients of Genesee ARC showed up to pick up their new rides. Pictures are Hank, left, Amber, Tim and Andrew.

More than 300 local residents showed up at Dwyer Stadium bright and early this morning to kick off United Way's Day of Caring.

It's the largest number of volunteers yet for the annual event.

Volunteers perform a variety of tasks for local agencies, from painting to weed pulling and other tasks. 

This year, among the volunteer efforts, Lions Club members showed up at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycles to recondition 25 bikes into rideable machines for Genesee ARC clients.

Though not part of the event at Dwyer, 40 students at Batavia High School participated in Day of Caring by doing volunteer work on campus.

In all, 40 businesses and organizations sent volunteers and tasks were performed at more than two dozen locations throught the county.

Joe Sacco, below, sang the National Anthem and "America the Beautiful" to kick off the event.

Top group photo by Kevin Carlson, of Carlson's Studio.

If you're unable to view the slide show, click here.

Nearly 250 people braved a little wet weather this morning to show up at Dwyer Stadium to kick off the Day of Caring, sponsored by United Way.

The event sends people out into the community to perform a variety of volunteer tasks for nonprofit organizations, such as painting, cleaning, gardening and minor construction projects.

The organizers this year are (in no particular order): Jamie Rada, Chris Fix, Jane Scott, Susie Boyce, Debbie Fischer, Theresa DeMars, Lori Stupp, Shelley Fallitico (not pictured), Dave Cecere, Katie Betters, Scott Neff, Sue Boss, Carol Boshart, Jay Gsell, Erik Fix, Susan Schuler and Donna Saskowski.