Tomorrow the United Way of Sarnia-Lambton will officially kick off their 2024 campaign with the 29th Annual ‘Day of Caring’. This year’s event will see approximately 130 people fanning out across the City of Sarnia and in the County of Lambton to help others.
Day of Caring is a community-wide volunteer event that takes place at various nonprofits and individuals homes throughout Lambton County. It brings together large and small groups, along with individuals, to create lasting change in our community by helping others.
“It has become a tradition in Sarnia-Lambton. We are so fortunate to have such caring companies and businesses who support our community through the Day of Caring. These company sponsors release their employees for the day to volunteer at a nonprofit agency or at the homes of seniors or individuals in need of some extra help to keep their home maintained and safe. Employees then have a close-up look to see how their United Way donations help our community each day. After participating in Day of Caring, volunteers see United Way as so much more than a logo, pledge card or campaign rally. They understand how one financial gift helps so many in our community,” says Pamela Bodkin, event organizer.
Jobs range from building fences and benches, to painting, cleaning, gardening, and yard work. Each year, applications are reviewed, jobs are assessed and individuals having work done have completed a means test.
“Another spin off of the event is long term relationships that are sometimes formed between volunteers and clients or nonprofit agencies”, says Bodkin. “We have a high population of seniors in our community still living in their own homes, and many alone. The Day of Caring volunteers not only provide much needed help with their home maintenance but also a day of social time for the homeowner. Spending time with others is essential to a senior’s mental and emotional health. It also impacts their physical well-being,” she added.
This year, 17 sponsoring companies will release employees for the day to go to work in our community at 25 different job sites including local non-profit agencies and seniors or individuals in need of home maintenance. Volunteers see firsthand the dependency so many people in our community have on the programs and services that are funded by United Way contributions.
The 2024 Day of Caring sponsors are Plains, Mainstreet Credit Union, Worley, Rally Engineering, Imperial, Enbridge Pipelines, Libro Credit Union, Dow, Lambton College, TransAlta, Kent, Pembina, Suncor, BASES, Cabot, NOVA Chemicals, and Enbridge Gas Storage. Thanks also goes to the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 62 who provide the meeting space for the volunteers to kick off the day.
The United Way campaign is approaching 30% or $445,000 of its $1,487,000 Goal.
