by Alison Cundiff
Corporate Volunteer Engagement Coordinator
On September 11, I got to be a part of something truly incredible. Day of Caring is always one of my favorite days of the year. This year, it just happened to fall on my birthday, which made it even more special. I got to spend my birthday surrounded by people dedicated to giving back to the community. I got to spend Day of Caring with the amazing volunteers from GE Healthcare.
GE Healthcare approached us in mid-July to help them find a large-scale volunteer project for their employees and we knew that Kearns High had a huge need, and thus the epic project was born. Thanks to the direction of Kearns High Community School Director Steve Whatcott, we were able to identify specific needs that the school had and match it with the very specific skills of the GE Healthcare employees. As a corporate volunteer coordinator, this is the ultimate goal for any volunteer project.
The morning started with a warm welcome from the KHS cheerleaders and marching band. Over 300 GE Healthcare employees showed up to volunteer. Here is just a brief look at the various projects that took place throughout the day:
- Motivational speech to over 500 students by Jason Hewlett
- Classroom presentations and activities with over 30 classes
- Inspiring demonstrations of GE Healthcare equipment
- Grading, pouring, and leveling of a new cement walkway
- Painting projects at the baseball stadium
- Overhaul of the greenhouse, including brand new tables built and assembled by GE volunteers
- Complete makeover of the community garden space, including new garden beds and benches built by GE volunteers
It was truly amazing to see what can be done in one day by so many hard working volunteers. This project really reminded me of what United Way of Salt Lake’s Collective Impact work is all about — bringing partners in the community together to make a difference. The impact that GE Healthcare had on Kearns High School that day will be felt for years to come.
I would like to give huge thank you to Allan Alcox and Eric Gale of GE Healthcare for pulling this project together in a relatively short period of time. United Way of Salt Lake and Kearns High School wants to thank all of the GE Healthcare volunteers for spending your day improving the school, and more importantly, the lives of the students and families at Kearns High. Thank you for showing the community what it means to LIVE UNITED!
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