United Way of West Florida will hold its 27th Annual Day of Caring on Friday, October 4. Each year, hundreds of individuals and groups roll up their sleeves and volunteer to complete service projects across the community. Day of Caring is the largest single-day of volunteerism in the region.
This year, nearly 1,200 people have registered to join United Way of West Florida in completing 156 projects at 72 nonprofit agencies and schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. These volunteers make up 105 teams that represent nearly 76 different companies and civic groups from the community.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate Day of Caring across our entire community,” said Education Outreach and Volunteer Manager, Kristy Craig. “This is an exciting year for us as we develop new partnerships and have the opportunity to showcase our work, celebrate our volunteers, and impact our partner agencies and local schools.”
In Santa Rosa County, Feeding the Gulf Coast will have two volunteer groups assist them in packing over 900 Thanksgiving boxes. Additionally, Santa Rosa County Emergency Management (EOC) will house a free legal clinic, where volunteers from Legal Services of North Florida will be available all day to provide free legal counseling to anyone in the community.
In Escambia County, Capstone Adaptive Learning will be hosting a carnival at their Adult Day Training and Transition Employment locations where volunteers will enjoy staffing stations for face painting, sack races, bean bag tosses, and karaoke. Council on Aging of West Florida has volunteer groups that will visit 10 different clients’ homes to assist them with landscaping and yard maintenance and beautification.
In both counties, there will be numerous groups assisting area schools with beautification and cleanup projects, and many are also building and installing Little Free Libraries.
This year’s event is made possible with the support of Florida Blue and Cox Communications. If you’d like more information on how to volunteer with United Way of West Florida visit the organization’s online volunteer hub at https://uwwf.galaxydigital.com/, or contact their Volunteer Center at volunteer@uwwf.org or 850-434-3157.
