United Way Celebrates Day of Caring
More than 300 volunteers pitch in on 9/11

More than 300 United Way
day of caring volunteers
LIVE UNITED AS THEY HELP
OUR COMMUNITIES ON 9/11

CHATTANOOGA, TN – On Thursday, September 11, groups of volunteers roamed the city sporting white LIVE UNITED shirts and leaving good works in their wake.  On United Way’s 19^th Annual Day of Caring, coordinated by its Volunteer Center, more than 310 corporate and community volunteers completed 42 projects at 24 different organizations. That’s an average of 1,860 volunteer hours valued at more than $36,000.*

The 2008 Day of Caring “Site of the Day” was repair work at the East Lake Recreation Center and installation of a new Wonder Walk Trail at East Lake Park. Thanks to volunteers from ACE Hardware – the Day of Caring sponsor – this will be the first trail of its kind within the Chattanooga city limits.

ACE Hardware volunteers completed the Trail by noon so they could move on to some repair and remodeling work for the Building Stable Lives project at the East Lake Recreation Center. This pilot program recently moved into a trailer, located behind the recreation center, that it uses as its office.

“ACE has been great and John Rutter [ACE Marketing Manager] has been so nice. No request has been too big for them,” said Raquel Hidalgo, Life Coach for United Way’s Building

Stable Lives project in East Lake. “ACE has gone above and beyond to make sure we have a nice place to welcome our clients. This gives our clients a warm, inviting environment that they can feel good about coming to.” Ms. Hidalgo added that, “The Trail is a great addition too, so children can have an educational activity they can do with their parents. It lets them explore their imagination.”

            Work assignments for Day of Caring projects ranged from painting and landscaping to completing repair projects and making gardening mulch. Chattanooga Gas, ACE Hardware, TVA Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cornerstone Community Bank, CBL & Associates, McKee Foods, Akzon Nobel Chemicals, TVA Cleveland Offices, TVA Chattanooga Offices, UPS Freight, Invista,     T-Mobile, CIGNA, Partnership for Families, Children and Adults, First Tennessee Bank, First Horizon, Lattimore, Black, Morgan and Cain, Bell South Retirees and AT&T are our area companies who gave employees the day off from work so they could work together to create lasting change in their community – a fitting way to commemorate the 7^th anniversary of 9/11.

ACE Hardware’s local stores donated five percent of their Labor Day weekend sales to support the volunteer projects. Almost $8,750 was collected to help fund the community improvements at the 24 volunteer sites all over town – a great increase over last year.

“We believe in the United Way,” says Tom Glenn, President of Ace Hardware of Chattanooga.  “The Day of Caring is just one example of how the United Way directs resources to where they are needed.  Ace Hardware is proud to be a part of this effort.”

One hundred percent (100%) of contributions to United Way of Greater Chattanooga helps make a real difference in our community – Chattanooga, Marion County, North Georgia and Northeast Alabama – by creating lasting change and producing results. Whether it’s advancing the common good through education, economic stability or supporting the most vulnerable, United Way works to make this community the best at helping everyone achieve their potential.

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*The Independent Sector lists the national value of volunteer labor at $19.51 per hour.