United Way

JASON COX I THE LEADER

Kelll Hopp-Mlchlosky, Ruth Harper and Sarah Horvath, 'of Coming Inc., work on
painting walls at the the Salvation Army In Corning Wenesday ·afternoo n.

Volunteers show they care

BY KATHLEEN COSTELLO
kcostello®the-Ieader.com

CORNING I The Southern

Tier is a little brighter and
cleaner today, th an ks to
about 300 volunteers who
participated in Wednesday's
12th annual United Way
Day of Caring.
From pain ting porches to
clearing tr ails, em ployees
from 3S area companies
spent the day completing
selected projects at nonprof-
it agencies in Steuben an d
Chemung counties. Most
projects began at 9 a.m. and
continued until 3 p.m. JASONCOX I THE LEADER
"I'm a huge supporter of From left, Ken Duell o, Todd Seeley, Terri Reed and
volunteer work, and this is a Bryan Lepowskl, w it h Cerebral Palsy of Chemung
great way for our team to get County, work on general cleanup of the area sur-
together outside of work rounding Corning Ho spital during the United Way
and do somethi ng we feel Day of Caring .
goo d about," said Sarah
Godwin, a technician for LLP donated their services tothe paint color, said Michele
Philips Lighting Company. painting the Family Service Mayer, youth services direc-
Godwin an d about 20 Society building on Flint tor for Family Service Society.
other employees from Philips Avenue in Corning. The chil-
Lighting and EFP Rotenberg, dren' from the center chose SEE VOLUNTEERS I 8A

,VOLUNT ERS
Continued from 1A
. ~\
The kids, ages 8 thro ugh 18,
voted on three different shades
and selected th e robin's egg blue
that flecked Godwin 's anus.
"It's been several years since
I painted, but it's a lot of fun.
It's great to kn ow that you're
doing something that makes a
difference," Godwin said.
Ben efits from the United
Way Day of Caring are wide-
spread an d varied, not only
for the people wh o receive the
services,' but also for those
who perform them.
"It's excellent for groups
wh o normally n ever would
have had any contact with us,
to learn what we're abou t and
the services we provide free of
charge," Mayer said . "And our
kids (who take part in the
youth center at Fam ily Service
Society) always do a monthly
com munity service project, so
it's nice for them to be on the
receiving end and see that
such work can continue into
adulth ood."
There were 42 team s of
employees wh o each took on
differen t projects Wednesday.
Part of their day's experience
was to listen to an orientation
from each organ ization before
they began wor king.
"A big pa rt of the day is for
people to u nderstand some of
the issues facing non-profits
and some of the solutions as
well," said Sarah Grossman,
director of marketing and
commun icati on s for the
United Way of the Southern
Tier. "People tend to end their
day having a sense that they
are part of a community, feel-
ing that they are connected."
The estima ted value of the
day's wor k provided by all the
volunteers is $30,500, accord-
ing to th e United Way. Projects
stretched from Pine City to
Horne ll, from flower-planting
at the Economic Opportunity
Buildin g in Elmir a to invento-
ry-checking at the Prattsburgh
Library. Volunteers from Cath-
olic Charitie s of Steuben
County painted the handi-
. capped-accessible ramp out-
. stdeviSouthem Tier Legal'
Services Jn Bath, while Weg- .
: rrians emp loyees helped m ain: i',
tain trails at Tang lewood
Nature Cen ter in Big Flats~
"The Un ited Way touches
so many people in so many
different ways, " said Dawn
Burlew, manager of new busi-
ness deve lopment for Coming
Enterprises.
Burlew organized he r team of
employees - from The Gaffer
District and Coming Enter-
prises - to ,do some outdoor
cleanup behind Coming's City
Hall. The two groups spread
trees, planted flowers and
clean ed up flower beds.
"I wor k a lot with the city
and the Department of Public
Works, so this was a way t o
give back to the peopl e I work
with," Burlew said .
Coleen Fabrizi, ex ecu tive
director of The Gaffer District,
was on hand behind City Hall
with the team. Fabrizi men-
tioned the importance of
ignoring busy .schedules in
order to lend a helping hand.
"It's important to recognize
that no matter what we h ave
on our to-do lists, we h~ve to.
m ake time for something like
this," Fabrizi said. "It's. a, nice ,
way 'to give back to the com-
munity, and a few hours
makes such a huge impact ."