Martinsburg Journal

No project too large or too small

R.B. Seem / Guest Columnist POSTED: September 3, 2008

The United Way Day of Caring is just around the corner. This year's Day of Caring will be held on next Tuesday and will benefit local non-profit organizations through various community service projects.

Last year, there were more than 100 community service projects that were completed on the Day of Caring and more than 1,200 volunteers donated time, materials and money to make the event a success.

The kickoff to the 2008 Day of Caring will be held at 7:30 a.m. at War Memorial Park in Martinsburg.

The 2007 Day of Caring will go down in the history books as the "year of the handicap ramp."

While these ramps made up only a small percentage of the more than 100 projects completed, a large amount of the skilled labor for the Day of Caring was devoted to these ramps.

Also, as the Day of Caring committee found out at the last minute, handicap ramp construction is governed by the Berkeley and Jefferson Counties' planning departments, so the necessary permits had to be obtained in record time to complete the construction of the ramps.

These ramp projects weren't only great in number, but they allow people that would otherwise be homebound to leave their houses to enjoy beautiful weather or to receive necessary health care that would almost certainly be impossible to obtain.

Day of Caring 2008 will be known for more wheelchair ramps, but also so much more. This year our largest project will be to give a family a new home. This family has seen much hardship, but through the love and caring of our community, this family will have a new place to call home. Several volunteers will gather on the site of the recipients' house to clean up the property and prepare the site for a new home that will be placed there on the Day of Caring or shortly thereafter.

Another project that has prompted many smiles during the Day of Caring Committee meetings is the repair of an angel's wings that look over the children of the Children First Child Development Center. This project is small in size, but large in meaning. No project is too large or too small for the Day of Caring.

How did the United Way Day of Caring begin? In 1993, several community leaders gathered over lunch to discuss a day that everyone could come together to work on community projects. The first Day of Caring took place in late summer of 1994 and was more of a community clean-up day. Only a couple hundred volunteers

showed up for the first Day of Caring.

Today, Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson counties participate in the Day of Caring and more than 1,200 volunteers help make the day a success.

Held in conjunction with the United Way Day of Caring is the United Way Mega Food Drive. The food drive kicks off a few weeks prior to the Day of Caring and is currently in full swing. This event allows everyone in the community to take part in the Day of Caring. All of the food collected in the Mega Food Drive benefits local food pantries.

To get involved with this great project, take any non-perishable food items to any local bank, many downtown businesses or anywhere there is a Mega Food Drive box.

By participating in the Day of Caring or the Mega Food Drive we can all "Live United."

For more information about the Mega Food Drive, please call me at (304) 264-4000. To find out more about the Day of Caring call Trina Bartlett at (304) 596-5529.

- R.B. Seem is a vice president for MVB Bank in Martinsburg and the coordinator of the Mega Food Drive.

* The views of columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Journal.