by Stephanie Rokich
Community Volunteer Engagement Coordinator
Last Friday, June 24, more than 300 volunteers – including employees, families, and individuals – came together for United Way Day of Action at Hillcrest High School! Thank you, volunteers, for all you did to help the community of Midvale.
What happened on Day of Action? Here are some highlights:
· Volunteers heard an inspiring talk by Midvale City Mayor JoAnn Seghini. She talked about some exciting steps the city is taking to improve Midvale as well as some challenges the city is facing. She also highlighted the Midvale Family Shelter, operated by the Road Home, and ways that the community can help families living in the shelter. If you are interested in donating swimsuits or other items to students living in the shelter, please visit the shelter’s website.
· Hillcrest Assistant Principal Sara Newberry and Sandy Elementary Community School Facilitator Isa Connelly spoke about the cleaning projects and hygiene kit-packing project that volunteers did that morning. Sara talked about how important it is for students to have a nice place to go to school so that they feel valued. Isa talked about the poverty in Midvale schools and how important basic items like shampoo and toothpaste are to some students, especially those who have just moved here and have few possessions.
· Community outreach volunteers walked neighborhoods surrounding Hillcrest and left 211 information at 1,654 doors!
· Kit Assembly volunteers prepared 1,000 hygiene kits and 750 middle school binders. Binders will go to each student at Midvale Middle School, helping them start the school year off right.
· Dozens of volunteers braved the hot morning to pull hundreds of weeds on the Hillcrest football field, a daunting project that the school said they do not have the staff capacity to do.
· Another team of volunteers spent the morning cleaning the auditorium and scraping pounds of gum off desks. Volunteers had contests to see who could collect the most gum!
· Nearly 30 people also submitted stories to our blog about why they volunteer. Stay tuned for those stories in future posts!
If you missed the event, or you were there and are ready for our next big project, consider hosting a school supply drive or purchasing supplies online for Stuff the Bus! This year, we are supporting an amazing 11,000 students with brand new school supplies! July is the time to participate, so sign-up now!
