Michelle Ritter was busy pushing a wheelbarrow filled with mulch to the many places that will have flowers and other plants outside the Quad City Botanical Center in Rock Island on Thursday, April 25. It was a tough job, but the Sherrard, Illinois, woman said she loved helping out the botanical center. “I’m here to […]
Already a subscriber? Log in
Want to Read More?
Get immediate, unlimited access to all subscriber content and much more.
Learn more in our subscriber FAQ.
- Unparalleled business coverage of the Iowa City / Cedar Rapids corridor.
- Immediate access to subscriber-only content on our website.
- 52 issues per year delivered digitally, in print or both.
- Support locally owned and operated journalism.
Michelle Ritter was busy pushing a wheelbarrow filled with mulch to the many places that will have flowers and other plants outside the Quad City Botanical Center in Rock Island on Thursday, April 25.
It was a tough job, but the Sherrard, Illinois, woman said she loved helping out the botanical center. “I’m here to help the community. My daughter loves flowers, so this place is near and dear to my heart,” said Ms. Ritter, who is a John Deere employee.
Mr. Ritter was one of more than 1,600 people from the region who took part in Thursday’s “Day of Caring” presented by the United Way Quad Cities.
This community-wide event presented in partnership with University of Iowa Health Care, and held during National Volunteer Week, engages Quad Citizens in meaningful, hands-on volunteer projects across Rock Island and Scott Counties to better the community.
Volunteers came from many businesses, agencies, churches and groups. Some heard the United Way needed help and showed up to work.
The 1,600-plus volunteers the local Day of Caring efforts attracted represents the most since the pandemic era, said Kevin Smith, vice president of communications for the United Way Quad Cities.
He added that there were so many people volunteering on Thursday, many additional community projects were able to be completed.
The volunteer numbers for the event have been steadily increasing over the past few years. For example, the Day of Caring event from two years ago had about 1,300 volunteers.
More than 30,000 volunteers have participated in United Way Quad Cities’ Day of Caring since 2005. Their collective investment of time has totaled 120,000 hours or the equivalent of $2.8 million, using Independent Sector’s estimated value of volunteer time, according to information from the United Way.
On Thursday, the volunteers worked at parks, schools, care centers, historic sites, community centers and many other places and took on many different chores. At the botanical center, about 70 volunteers – mostly Deere & Co. employees – were busy hauling wheelbarrows full of mulch, weeding and unloading young plants from a semi-truck, painting benches and other jobs.
“Uniting people, organizations and resources to bring about much-needed change is our super power,” said Marci Zogg, United Way Quad Cities’ vice president of community impact, in a news release. “Our hearts are full because of our talented and committed friends and business partners who dedicated their mornings and afternoons to truly make our community shine today.”
Some of the local places volunteers gathered and worked at on Thursday included:
1 of 8
- The Butterworth Center & Deere-Wiman House in Moline. Volunteers helped restore Deere-Wiman’s formal garden, power wash stone work and restore interior walls.
- Logan Elementary School in Moline. Volunteers cleaned the school’s front landscaping and spread new mulch for the spring.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rock Island, where they helped build an outdoor classroom.
- YMCA Camp Abe Lincoln in Blue Grass. Volunteers helped prepare the lodge and cabins for its summer camping season.
- Amowa Forest Preserve in East Moline where volunteers worked alongside Living Lands and Waters workers to remove invasive plant species.
- Hand in Hand in Bettendorf, where volunteers painted, did landscape work and helped fix up the outdoor learning space.