Volunteers from organizations in the Charleston area joined forces with Charleston Promise Neighborhood for Trident United Way’s Day of Caring 2013 on Friday, September 13th. Forget any “Friday the 13th” superstitions because Day of Caring has once again proved to be one of the luckiest days of the year for the Charleston Promise Neighborhood!
.jpg "Volunteer from The City of North Charleston")
Volunteer from The City of North Charleston
Our volunteers came from different backgrounds and personal life journeys, but shared one thing in common: a willingness to lend a hand to help inspire young people in our community. In just one day, we had a total of 98 volunteers from 12 different organizations that generated over 500 service hours!
.jpg "Volunteer from MWV at Chicora Elementary")
Volunteer from MWV at Chicora Elementary
At Sanders-Clyde Creative Arts School, James Simons Elementary, and Chicora School of Communications, teams of employees from Passport Control, Resume Solutions, Cummins, MWV Specialty Chemicals, City of North Charleston, ISHPI, Joint Base Command, City of Charleston, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and the Rotary Club of Charleston mentored elementary school students, talked about the importance of education, following your dreams and going to college! Our Day of Caring service projects were focused on raising the bar for learning, increasing college awareness, and sharing personal educational journeys. “It was a day well spent. I loved seeing the children’s faces light up as I shared my personal story – if what I said inspired just one child, I am happy,” says Amanda Fender, Financial Analyst, MeadWestvaco.
Marshmallow Challenge Winners at Mary Ford Elementary
Blackbaud and Benefitfocus joined CPN at Mary Ford Elementary. This year our project with Blackbaud had a brand new twist. We challenged Mary Ford students to work in small teams to see who could build the tallest marshmallow tower. The competition required teamwork and the use of project management skills. “Build a tower, build a team” was the motto of the day! Blackbaud volunteers paired with teams of students and taught them skills to improve planning, organizing, and controlling resources to reach a specific goal. “When we built our first tower it fell over, our team leader helped us notice areas that needed improvement and our second tower came in first place! Now I understand the steps I need to take when tackling a project”, said a 5th grade student at Mary Ford Elementary.
See more pictures on our Facebook page!
Thank you to all the volunteers for making Trident United Way’s Day of Caring a success! Your stories and wisdom were an inspiration to our students! See our Facebook page to check out our photo album from Day of Caring 2013!