Looking for a way to give back to your community?  Bennington County’s first annual Day of Caring is a great volunteer opportunity that asks for just a few hours of your time!  

On Saturday, April 9th, United Ways of Vermont-Bennington County will be hosting their first annual Day of Caring.  I have been interning with Kayla Becker of United Ways since mid-January, diving into what it means to run a nonprofit organization and how they accomplish their goals.  Since their return to our community in August, Becker began planning this event.  Day of Caring will be a countywide volunteer event focused on giving back to the county.  I was able to interview Becker to learn more about this event and to know how one can get involved.

Can you tell us a little about United Way and your role?

United Way’s mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities.  Our local United Way serves the county through organizing volunteer events and raising funds to then distribute into the community in the focused areas of health, education, and income. We put money into the community that will “move the needle”.  We want to move the needle to improve the lives of everyone in the county, but the focus has to be in health, education, and income.  My role as the Community Impact and Resource Development Coordinator is to help to raise the funds and organize volunteers; I also oversee the community impact where the funds are placed.

What is the Day of Caring?

Day of Caring is a county wide volunteer event.  Volunteers from around the county will come together and volunteer for two-to-three hours on Saturday, April 9th.  These volunteers will work on service projects to benefit local organization and nonprofits.  United Way’s role is to organize and facilitate the event, but it is really all about the community coming together.

Can you give us an example of a project for Day of Caring?

This is our first Day of Caring, so it is hard to say what projects will turn up in our county.  It could be painting, starting a garden, cleaning toys, etc.  A great place to look for examples could be our neighboring United Way in Windham County.  For their Day of Caring last year they had about 150 volunteers.  One of their projects was a food cleaning.  They went to a farm and cleaned all of the harvest that would have been rotted otherwise.  With the harvest that they saved, they were able to donate 3,000 pounds of produce to the food pantry and that was just from a few hours work.

What will the event require?

We will receive project applications from different organizations.  Depending on how many volunteers sign up, we will match volunteer groups with specific projects ahead of time.  On the day of the event, we will hold a Thank You Breakfast for all of our volunteers.  During this time, volunteer teams will get all the information on the project they’ve been assigned to, and after will be sent to project locations to work and have a good time.

What are the goals for this event?

By having volunteers and sponsors support these projects, we are able to create change in the community without the huge cost.  This will be a uniting event where everyone comes together to benefit these great organizations that serve our community.  We want this to be about giving back to them.

How can people get involved?

First, you can visit our website.  We have a portal designated for sign-ups as a volunteer or if you want to let us know of a project that needs to get done.  Volunteering does not have to be on the day of the event.  We could use help preparing beforehand, too.

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Day of Caring is an amazing way to give back to our community, and Becker cannot wait for people to get involved.  With just a few hours of your time, it is incredible how much we can change and accomplish for our home.

To contact Kayla Becker, you can reach her at [email protected] or call her at (802)-681-8469.

You can also contact me at [email protected] for any further questions.