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The Day of Caring is a special event for
my family and me. It reminds us of a fun-loving guy with a grateful heart
who buoyed our community for 30 years. The United Way - Thomas Jefferson
Area hit the nail on the head when they re-named the Day of Caring to
honor my late father, Laurence E. Richardson.
 Larry
was a decorated WWII veteran, an old-fashioned community broadcaster,
and a volunteer extraordinaire with numerous Charlottesville-area community
organizations. He would have been enormously proud to see the work done
each September by hundreds of eager Day of Caring volunteers, especially
the first-timers. Each year, at least a few of them discover they like
volunteering so much, they go on to make it a year-round habit. Last year, the Day of Caring set impressive
new records. More than 1,150 volunteers worked on 139 different projects,
contributing labor worth more than $128,000!
This year, we are working harder than ever
to prepare for the big day. You can register online and use this website
to help brainstorm your projects and organize your volunteer teams. Members
of this committee are available to help agencies and volunteer team leaders
make their plans.
Business leaders, we thank you for making
these good works possible by allowing your employees to join us on September
22. If you can't spare your people, you can still be a big help. We also
welcome donations of building materials, heavy equipment, or other supplies
for Day of Caring projects and we also accept cash grants to help defray
a variety of Day of Caring expenses. Click here to learn more about our
Day of Caring sponsors.
On behalf of the Richardsons, I'd like to
thank everyone who lent a hand, including the hard-working committee
members, the media who help us recruit and recognize the volunteers,
and the dedicated staff of the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area. Together,
we make life better...right here at home!
See you in September 2006!
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