- The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley celebrated its 30th annual Day of Caring event, with spokespeople calling it the biggest one yet
- Over a thousand employees from businesses and groups throughout the region volunteered thousands of hours of labor to assist nonprofits and community projects throughout the Lehigh Valley
- Representatives from PPL, Just Born Confectionary, and other groups say it's about uniting and giving back to the community
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Over 1,000 volunteers took to various locations throughout the Lehigh Valley of different groups, businesses and nonprofits Thursday, commemorating the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley's 30th annual Day of Caring event.
According to United Way, about 1,200 local employees from 54 area businesses volunteered time to work on more than 50 service projects throughout Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties.
The nonprofit says the more than 6,150 hours of service contributed is valued at more than $195,570 in labor.
At Bethlehem's Marvine Elementary School, eight volunteers from the nearby Just Born Quality Confections factory and offices, where Peeps and other famous candies are produced, worked to repaint sidewalk and parking lot decals and power-wash the school walls.
Courtney Angle, corporate affairs specialist at Just Born, said it was a perfect opportunity given the proximity of their factory and their desire to give back.
"I think it's really exciting for us to just see all local companies and Lehigh Valley, just unite for the day, get together all across the Lehigh Valley, but really come together as one to give back to where we work," Angle said.
"It's always just such a fun, rewarding day. You get to work side by side with your co-workers but in a different way. You get to know different things about them, and it's just a really rewarding and fun day."
She says that the United Way collaborates with the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley to match companies and their employees' skills to nonprofits and volunteer opportunities that need them.
Other volunteer efforts, United Way says, include cleanups and beautification efforts at the Children's Home in Easton and Unidos Inc. by Air Products and PPL employees, respectively, an outdoor picnic lunch with Phoebe Allentown Health Care Center residents by BSI Corporate Benefits employees, and installing fire alarms and providing training for Easton Homes by Victaulic Dual Temp Company and JP Morgan Chase employees.
Liz Pratt, a spokesperson for PPL, said the company had more than 300 employees volunteering and supporting the effort in Pennsylvania.
"We want to help empower our communities and our community members," Pratt said. "This is such a great opportunity when our employees come together each year to work together as teams, and to help support our area nonprofits."
Laura McHugh, VP of communications for the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, says for the 30th anniversary of the event, this is the "biggest ever" given the number of volunteers and locations being impacted, taking advantage of the nice weather.
"Volunteers are rolling up their sleeves, they're digging in the dirt, they're painting, they're landscaping, they're organizing, they're cleaning, you name it, they are out there getting their hands involved in tangible opportunities to make a difference."
She says that the event is the kickoff of the nonprofit's annual fundraising campaign, which campaign leaders Tony and Adrienne DaRe say will be the start of a three-year initiative focused on mental health.
"We're very excited about that initiative and the United Way, being behind pulling together our community resources to make an impact in the mental health crisis that's happening in our community and across the country," Adrienne DaRe said.
