Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1993 TAG: 9309150101
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Salvation Army was crawling Tuesday with T-shirted men and women wielding hammers, shovels, lawn mowers and slotted spoons.
Major Dan Delaney, commanding officer, surveyed the commotion and smiled.
"We don't always see the better side of people," he said. "We deal with abuse, alcoholism, drugs, homelessness. It's refreshing to see people do this for us."
The men and women had traded an afternoon at the office for an afternoon of volunteer service for United Way of Roanoke Valley.
United Way replaced its traditional fund-raising campaign-opening luncheon this year with a 24-hour community service mega-event dubbed "Day of Caring," running from noon Tuesday until noon today. Some 2,200 businessmen and businesswomen, civic group members and municipal government employees were devoting time to projects at United Way's 36 partner agencies - from stuffing Smokeout survival kits to building nursery school playgrounds.
"Sharing yourself is caring," Delaney said. "Writing a check, that's the easy part."
In the kitchen of the Salvation Army's Turning Point, a shelter for battered women, a group of Carilion Health System employees hovered over sinks and stoves, preparing 125 meals for Turning Point clients.
Joan Childress, a quality management analyst at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, rolled a chicken thigh through flour and placed it on a mammoth baking sheet.
"When you donate, you don't always know who you're donating to and why," she said. "Today, I think I understand a little better."
The "Day of Caring" was designed to do just that - to bring realism to giving, particularly for one organization that is still feeling the remnants of last year's management scandal at its national headquarters.
Nationally, market surveys have shown that the scandal - in which William Aramony, then the national United Way president, resigned amid questions about his spending and management practices - is having less of an impact on giving. Locally, response to United Way's call for "Day of Caring" volunteers could indicate the same.
"Clearly, this is the biggest [Day of Caring] in the state and certainly one of the biggest in the country," said Bob Kulinski, president and chief professional officer of Roanoke Valley's United Way. "We've got over 2,200 volunteers engaged in direct service projects and probably another 60,000 donating products to services."
Roanoke Valley's "Day of Caring" is the largest such event of all United Way organizations in Virginia to date and one of the top five in the country based on number of volunteers, according to United Way of America in Alexandria.
Estimating the dollar value of the nearly 300 "Day of Caring" projects would be difficult. In donated time alone, the estimate would probably be $75,000 to $100,000, Kulinski said.
"Beyond that, the nature of these projects is that many of them wouldn't get done because there is no easy way to do them," Kulinski said. "An agency wouldn't have $1,400 to build a wheelchair ramp or enough money to hire people to install shelving and to paint."
On the playground of the Northwest Child Development Center, a United Way agency, Hollins College students shoveled mulch and swabbed paint on equipment and window and door trim. Inside, employees from Richfield Retirement Community put up bookshelves in a teacher's lounge.
"There are people who have social conscience as part of their agenda and are willing to do more than talk about it," said Harriet Lewis, the center's executive director.
"These are people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and do the `grubby' work for people who need a helping hand."
"Day of Caring" ends at noon today. Five Roanoke-area churches will signal the event's close by ringing bells. Unlike past years' fund-raising campaigns, United Way has not set a goal for its campaign this year but has pledged to raise as much as possible, without limitations.
by CNB