Friday, September 28, 2012 marked United Way of Williamson County’s annual Day of Caring. More than 175 individuals, families and groups, including many from local employers came together to tackle work at 14 different project locations in Hutto, Georgetown, Round Rock and Taylor.
Volunteers that attended the kick off rally at Dell Diamond sponsored by BBVA Compass, were treated to a LIVE UNITED t-shirt, breakfast tacos from H-E-B and Starbucks coffee. In his welcome to the group, Ed Komandosky, United Way of Williamson County (UWWC) board chair said, “While the breakfast and t-shirt isn’t much of a thank you for your time, you need to know that your time is invaluable to the organizations you will be helping today.”
LeAnn Pow ers, Chief Professional Officer for United Way of Williamson County went on to state, “United Way often talks about three ways that we make an impact in the community. Give. Advocate. Volunteer. Today is about the last one. The time you spend today cleaning up at a school or painting or sorting donations is a tremendous help to those organizations.”
Volunteers sorted and organized donations for local charity garage sales, thrift stores and clothing drives, while other groups helped with landscaping, light construction work, painting and beautification projects.
“I want to personally thank those individuals who chose to take time out of their day to participate in the Day of Caring,” said Debbie Holland, Mayor of Hutto and Day of Caring Volunteer. “It is opportunities like this that show the true heart and spirit of a community”.
In addition to many individuals that took time to volunteer, some of the local companies that encouraged employee participation included Atmos Energy, BBVA Compass, City of Hutto, Dell, Inc., ERCOT, Newland Communities, Oncor Electric Delivery, RJ Reynolds, Seton Williamson, TD Industries, United Heritage Credit Union. Additionally, volunteers from the Williamson County Master Gardeners and Good Water Master Naturalists provided support for the trail development project at Berry Springs Park in Georgetown.
“I thought there would be maybe eight or ten people here, but this many showing up is a beautiful thing,” said Pat Hooper, a volunteer at Berry Springs Park in Georgetown. “We need all the help we can get and with everyone cutting back on their budget, we are working hard to make [Berry Springs Park] the best park it can be.”
The Day of Caring is an annual event that coincides with the start of the annual United Way of Williamson County campaign and focuses on helping local nonprofit agencies, schools and communities complete projects that will benefit residents across Williamson County.
