By Nita Wilkinson

Faith Editor 

What happens when you have 450 volunteers show up one day in your community? Stuff gets done!

Friday, Aug. 21, was the 11th annual United Way Community Care Days. More than 450 people gathered at Grace Church for the campaign kickoff and a breakfast sponsored by Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Richwood Coffee.

United Way Executive Director Becca McGillis opened the morning with thanks to a community that gives so much. 

Community Engagement Director Jamie Morley also updated the group on several United Way projects, including Student United Way, Lunch Buddies and the former Harwood Project, now called Better Together Logan County.

She also announced a new initiative that came from Better Together Logan County Youth: the Fifth Quarter.

“The Youth committee recognized the need for more safe youth spaces to hang, so the committee is working with the Hilliker YMCA to offer the Fifth Quarter after the game at the Y,” Morley said. “This is just one more way we are actively growing our community’s culture of generosity.”

McGillis introduced the agencies chairing this year’s campaign: Logan County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Otterbein Universal Hospice, Warm Clothes for Kids, Peak of Hope Shelter, LifeCare Alliance, 211, Bridges Community Action, Family and Children First Council and Second Harvest Food Bank.

She also announced this year’s goal.

“Let’s exceed $1 million dollars for the eighth year in a row!”

Then the crowd dispersed to their volunteer locations.

So much happened Friday, enough to change a community. What follows is only a glimpse of what took place across Logan County that day.

LoCo Kids Foundation announced that, thanks to CenterPoint Energy, Team Honda and Civista Bank, the first two stories of their demo are finished at the site of the future children’s museum at 149 W. Columbus Ave., Bellefontaine. They are now moving to a new phase.

The Bellefontaine Rotary Club went to the Soteria House shelter to fix cabinets, paint three bedrooms, install a new faucet and tackle a menagerie of small tasks to make life a bit easier for the women and children who spend time there.

Stuff the Bus collected more than 20,000 items, along with monetary donations to purchase even more supplies. Every child in Logan County should have what they need to start the school year.

Robinson Investments chose the “hard” job of fishing with RTC clients at Ben Kennedy’s pond. Their day was full of smiles and high fives as every single person caught at least one fish, with some catching as many as five.

Ohio Hi-Point Career Center volunteers tackled a variety of tasks at the Lutheran Community Services, including making lunches and cleaning the kitchen and dining area.

Safe and Secure Healthcare, First Christian Church and the Indian Lake Volleyball program worked hard at Cracked Pot Studio, while the Logan County Family Court and Logan County Chamber reorganized the Raising Arrows space at Union Station.

And those are just a few of the projects happening around the county. Different people, different organizations and different needs, but the same willingness to show up and help.

That is what Community Care Days does. It reminds us that sometimes changing a community doesn’t require one person to do something extraordinary. It just takes 450 people to team up and contribute together.

Fix a cabinet. Paint a room. Clean a kitchen. Collect school supplies. Go fishing. Reorganize a space. Make lunch. Stuff gets done.

When 450 people show up for their neighbors, something else happens, a community gets stronger.

Truly, we are better together. ■