On Thursday, May 11, we held our annual Day of Caring. Day of Caring is one of the largest organized volunteer events in Cedar Rapids.
Each year, local businesses (view full list) encourage their employees to volunteer at nonprofit agencies throughout the community, the City of Cedar Rapids, and parks and recreations departments. Volunteer teams of all sizes tackle meaningful projects to address community and agency needs. This year marked our 24th Day of Caring event.
1,268 employees from 51 local companies spent their work day giving back to the community. Volunteers tackled 103 projects at 39 nonprofit organizations including gardening, assembling hygiene kits, downtown beautification, prepping summer reading activities, and many more.
"It's one time out of the year where we can all come out together and really contribute to the betterment of the community. It's a fantastic day for us." Rick White, HR Green
In total, volunteers gave more than 6,550 hours of their time — worth a staggering $158,141! Want to see Day of Caring volunteers in action? Watch our thank you video:
In addition to volunteering on Day of Caring, our Young Leaders Society hosted a community wide book drive at United Way's office. We collected more than 3,000 children's books, and will hand them out to kids throughout the summer to encourage reading.
Thanks again to everyone who volunteered and donated children's books! Learn more about how company volunteers made Day of Caring successful by reading articles from both The Gazette and KGAN.