Volunteers from Honey Grove Educational Services do landscaping at the Boys and Girls Club of Johnson County Wednesday for the Day of Caring. The service-minded day serves as the kick-off for the United Way of Johnson County’s annual campaign, as more than 250 volunteers do projects across the county.
RYAN TRARES | DAILY JOURNAL
In the span of a couple hours, a year’s of work was accomplished.
Inside Boys and Girls Club of Johnson County, volunteers teamed up to tackle a list of facility needs. They touched up white paint throughout the club’s gymnasium and helped clean out offices and storage spaces around the complex.
People pulled weeds, cleared out dead plants and dug up unruly saplings. To help the club get in a festive mood, they helped hang Halloween decorations.
The Boys and Girls Club’s limited staff doesn’t have time to do that work on top of the everyday responsibilities of working with local youth, said Natalie Fellure, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Johnson County. That made the volunteers’ efforts invaluable.
“When you get nearly 40 people in a place that’s this big, that’s a huge deal,” she said. “We have five full-time staff, so having people do stuff like touch up paint in the gym or move things for us is a big help.”
The volunteers were part of a county-wide campaign of community service, in an effort dubbed the Day of Caring. More than 250 people from 29 organizations and businesses came together to help the United Way of Johnson County kick off its 2022-2023 campaign Wednesday.
They spread mulch and pulled weeds, painted offices, moved furniture, installed fencing, built playground equipment and did a myriad of other jobs at nonprofits and agencies around the county.
With many of the agencies it supports still struggling, the United Way is counting on the generosity of donors and the community as a whole to reach its goal.
“In the past two years, the funding that comes from our donors has been evident more than ever, because for so many of our agencies, the donors’ money, United Way’s allocations to them, was the only money they were receiving during COVID,” said Nancy Lohr Plake, executive director of the United Way of Johnson County. “COVID has helped a lot of people understand that their donor dollars are the foundation and constant for these agencies.”
The Day of Caring has helped jump-start the United Way’s annual campaign for the past 26 years. Supporting companies from throughout the county provide volunteers to do work. The service not only helps the agencies under the United Way umbrella, but also provides an easy way to allow employees to give to their neighbors in a meaningful way, Plake said.
“As Americans, we want to give back to our communities, and for some people, they’re not always sure how to do that. This is a way they can be actively involved in their community and make a connection to keep on volunteering,” she said.
To get the day started, the United Way gathered supporters and volunteers for breakfast and an energetic morning program. Before adjourning to go to their respective assignments, attendees had the first glimpse of the fundraising goal for this year’s campaign: $1.5 million. Last year, the United Way raised more than $1.4 million.
The campaign is the lifeblood of the United Way, generating 94% of the money used for programs that support youth, seniors, people at risk of homelessness and local families throughout Johnson County, among others in need. The United Way provides funding for 17 health and human-service agencies and eight direct programs around the county, who would be unable to provide the services without that funding.
The Day of Caring helps emphasize the role these groups play in the community.
“It’s important to have this event to connect donors and potential donors and companies and organizations to our partner agencies and to give those people an opportunity to see where and for what their dollars are going,” Plake said.
Following the kick-off program, people moved to their assigned volunteer jobs around the county.
Volunteers did driveway sealing, painting and landscaping at the Boy Scouts’ Camp Belzer in Indianapolis. The White River Township Fire Department completed yard work and put in fencing at Firefly Children and Family Alliance.
A group from Cummins helped power wash the Nineveh Area Senior Citizens Center.
At the United Way’s offices, volunteers from Franklin Rotary Club, Grace United Methodist Church and a group of retired Greenwood Middle School teachers known as Girls Gone Wild helped do everything from clean windows to waxing the floors to stuffing envelopes.
“The Rotary Club’s motto is ‘service above self,’ so this was an opportunity presented to the club, and several of us jumped on it because we could,” said Peter Jessen, a member of the Franklin Rotary Club. “Many hands make light work, so this is a way to get stuff done.”
For the retired teachers of Girls Gone Wild, the Day of Caring was a chance to help in their community.
“We want to help the schools and all that United Way supports,” said Lhea Hesler. “I was a counselor at Greenwood, and (the United Way) always helped the schools and the kids, things like Coats for Kids, so we relied on them for that.”
The Boys and Girls Club was one of the largest assignments, with 33 volunteers from Mutual Savings Bank, First Merchants Bank and Honey Grove Educational Services.
To be able to give their time was a big deal, both in helping the community they work in and raising awareness of the United Way’s impact throughout the county.
“We’re happy to see whatever can be done to help our community thrive, and the Day of Caring is a great way to be a part of that,” said Tricia Bechman, a volunteer with Mutual Savings Bank. “It’s great to come out and help local agencies with projects that they have to save up for days like this, because they’re so busy during the year. They need groups to come in and do massive projects like this.”
