(from left) Jonathan Schmidt, Tony Harland and Madalynn Baez work in a garden box outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rock Island on Thursday, Sept. 15, during United Way Quad Cities’ Day of Caring events. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
They painted. They cleaned walls. They fixed up garden boxes. And they did a dozen other jobs in the Quad Cities area. Around 1,300 volunteers spent much of Thursday, Sept. 15, doing good work at various sites across the bistate region during the Day of Caring. The Day of Caring is part of the United […]
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They painted. They cleaned walls. They fixed up garden boxes. And they did a dozen other jobs in the Quad Cities area.Around 1,300 volunteers spent much of Thursday, Sept. 15, doing good work at various sites across the bistate region during the Day of Caring. The Day of Caring is part of the United Way Quad Cities’ efforts to improve the community. The volunteer work over the years has had a $2.6 million economic impact on the region, according to the United Way’s website.Some of the places attracting volunteers included YouthHope and World Relief Quad Cities, both in Moline, as well as the Hauberg Civic Center and the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, both in Rock Island.
Some of the jobs the volunteers took on included:
Cleaning up and improving the grounds outside Wilson Elementary School in Davenport, to improve learning experiences for our students.
Deep-cleaning and organizing at YouthHope in Moline, to help better serve teens.
Replacing deck floor and stairs with Project Now in Rock Island.
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(from left) Jonathan Schmidt, Tony Harland and Madalynn Baez work in a garden box outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rock Island on Thursday, Sept. 15, during United Way Quad Cities’ Day of Caring events. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Madalynn Baez works at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rock Island on Thursday, Sept. 15, during Day of Caring events, hosted by United Way Quad Cities. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Day of Caring volunteer Jonathan Schmidt sets up a lattice in a garden box in Rock Island on Thursday. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Day of Caring volunteers set up a lattice in a garden box in Rock Island on Thursday. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Tara Fitzpatrick of Davenport cleans a wall inside the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rock Island – one of the Day of Caring sites across the Quad Cities on Thursday, Sept. 15. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON.
A crew of employees – decked out in pink T-shirts decorated with the phrase “Making Caring Famous” – from John Deere were working on various projects at the MLK Center. Some of their projects included fixing up and painting garden boxes outside the center, cleaning walls and setting up equipment inside the center. The volunteers were doing such a good job that at one point an MLK Center employee told them: “You guys are welcome to come here and work every month or so.”Outside the west Rock Island center, Madalynn Baez, Tony Harland and Jonathan Schmidt spent the morning putting tomato plants in wire cages and setting up lattice for the plants.Mr. Schmidt said they were happy to do the work because Deere and Co. is committed to doing projects that help people in the community. “This is a fantastic opportunity to help people,” he added.Inside the MLK Center, Tara Fitzpatrick, Carlie Elledge and others were cleaning walls in one of the rooms. They also said it is great to help people and groups around the region.“It’s just good to help people who need our support,” Ms. Elledge added.According to the United Way Quad Cities, the Day of Caring events over the years have had this impact on the region: a total of 27,654 volunteers; 1,894 projects; and 114,856 hours worked.“It might sound crazy to some, but our United Way Quad Cities team of employees, supporters and extraordinary volunteers never settle for ‘good enough.’ So, we're on a mission to ‘make caring famous’ in the Quad Cities this year,” said Rene Gellerman, president and CEO of United Way Quad Cities. “Today our community made a huge step toward meeting one of our goals for our 50th anniversary as an organization — recruiting 5,000 volunteers to make a positive difference in our community by June 2023. 1,338 real people — neighbors, friends, service groups, unions and businesses — decided to roll up their sleeves to make the community a better place, and we are so grateful for their investment of time and talent.”
