Even rain can't put damper on Day of Caring

Mike Grant, Washington Times-Herald, Ind.
·2 min read

May 14—Volunteers blanketed Washington and Daviess County looking to make the community better. More than 600 people filled the parks, not for profit agencies and even the streets as part of the annual United Way of Daviess County Day of Caring.

"The whole vibe of Day of Caring is great —people volunteering their time and energy and talents to go out and help the community, it's a good uplifting day for everyone," said Daviess County United Way Board Chairman Steve Sturgis. "Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating with us like we had hoped it would. The rain is putting a damper on a lot of outdoors work. We will still be able to get a lot of things done though."

At Washington's Eastside Park, a crew worked to improve the main playground, working through the rain to put down fresh mulch.

"Rain or shine, we've had a little bit of rain but it is all good. We know this is a one-day opportunity and even though the weather wasn't cooperative, we had the day, we had the people, we had the materials and so here we are," said volunteer Carole Smith. "This is for the community. We have people out here who are part of this community. At some point they have been to this park and they are vested in this being a beautiful, safe place for their family members to come to."

Some of the crew working at the park were part of the road crew from the Daviess County Sheriff's Department. The crew might be incarcerated but they saw Day of Caring as a chance to give back.

"I'm part of the Daviess County Road Crew and we volunteer to give back to the community. It feels good to give back to the community to right some of the wrongs we have done in the past," said road crew member Christopher Morrison. "Anytime we can make the playground safer it is good. It's a good cause."

Before the day is out the volunteers wind up providing thousands of hours of work to improve the community. Those hours have a cash value in excess of tens of thousands of dollars, but the Day of Caring cannot be measured in dollars and hours, because it is really about giving back to the community.

"The turnout speaks to the servant's heart," said Smith. "When there is the opportunity to get things done, we go forward and do it even though it may be inconvenient at the moment."

"As diverse as our community can be, it shows that we are a caring community, a generous community where we have concern for our neighbors," said Sturgis.