Church Employees Volunteer in 19th Annual Day of Caring

  • 2011-09-09

Article Highlights

  • Annual United Way Day of Caring 2011
  • 450 Church employees volunteered; 3,300 volunteers overall
  • More than 145 service projects across two counties

“We want to build something that will last, that will improve the lives of those who are involved here.” —Rick Velasquez, project leader

On September 8, 2011, more than 450 employees of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with thousands of other people, once again answered the United Way call to help make a difference in the lives of people throughout two Wasatch Front counties.

The United Way of Salt Lake City sponsored the Day of Caring in Salt Lake and Summit Counties.

Prior to the event, president and CEO of United Way Deborah S. Bayle told assembled volunteers, “The Day of Caring is a success every year because of you.” She emphasized that there are many different ways to volunteer.

More than 3,300 volunteers—500 more than last year—from businesses, nonprofit organizations, utilities, banks, and hospitals dispersed throughout several communities to participate in more than 145 service projects. The projects ranged from painting, cleanup, fix-up, winterization, and building fences to playing games and doing arts and crafts with children.

In South Salt Lake alone, 700 volunteers participated in 24 projects that included a career fair, landscaping, and working with seniors.

In Park City, Utah, dozens of Church employees erected 1,200 feet of fencing and built two loafing sheds (three-sided animal enclosures) at the National Ability Center, as well as completed groundwork for Park City Ski Resort.

“The focus is on good, high quality service,” said project leader Rick Velasquez. “We want to build something that will last, that will improve the lives of those who are involved here.”

Church membership provides many opportunities to serve, and additional service opportunities are available through organizations like the United Way, Red Cross, schools and parent-teacher associations, libraries, and youth groups.

Bishop H. David Burton, Presiding Bishop of the Church, said agencies like United Way provide a wide variety of services that meet needs that do not always fit within the framework provided by tithes and offerings.

The Church has participated in a number of United Way of Salt Lake programs, including the United Way’s Cornerstone Partner program—a program that underwrites all of the United Way’s costs of doing business so that 100 percent of the personal contributions received may go back to the community.

The United Way of Salt Lake also acknowledged the humanitarian efforts the Church has undertaken in the Salt Lake community and around the world.

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