Day of Caring

This year marks our 15th Annual Day of Caring, which will be held (rain or shine) on Thursday September 9th.

We will kick off the day with a pancake breakfast, starting at 8am at the Open Space. We'll get you well fed and reved up to go out and spend the day working on your special project. We do have quite a few projects already submitted, check it out on our website and be the first to sign your team up! http://www.unitedwaynwmi.org/DOCProjects.html

Remember, not all projects need to be done on the 9th, but we would still love to have you join us for breakfast, no matter what day you are doing your volunteer project.

On Wednesday September 15th we will be having a Thank you party, in conjunction with Business After Hours at Mt. Holiday. We hope you can attend and help us celebrate all the great work that was done on the Day of Caring.

If you have any questions please contact Susan McQuaid 231-947-3200 x 205 or email her susan@unitedwaynwmi.org.

Habitat for Humanity - The Womens Build

After just about giving the answer away last week, I got a correct guess. My last vacation was with Habitat for Humanity. I spent a rainy Tuesday helping to build a house for a hard-working mother and her two daughters. Last fall Habitat for Humanity received a large donation from the estate of Sandra Schlueter. Sandra was a dedicated Habitat for Humanity volunteer and one of the first women officers in the US Air Force. In memory of Sandra, Habitat for Humanity dedicated the Women Build Project. Women from our area have come together to build a house just outside of Maple City. It was amazing to be a part of it, even though it was just one day. I worked with a great team of women lifting and raising the roof trusses, they were heavy! Habitat hopes to have the house completed by late August so the new homeowner and her daughters can be settled in before the school year begins.


Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit our community needs now more than ever. Their purpose is to help deserving families obtain quality, low cost homes. Partner families invest hundreds of hours, also known as sweat equity, into their home and into homes of other partner famiies. Their mortgages are interest free and go directly into a revolving fund that helps Habitat for Humanity build additional homes. It's a great concept, and one that is making a tremendous impact in Northern Michigan.

Habitat uses volunteers in every portion of their existance. Every home is built under volunteer manpower - and you don't have to be knowledgeable about construction to help. I did it and I really have no idea how to build things, just ask my husband. In addition to building homes Habitat for Humanity runs a retail store they have dubbed "ReStore". They accept donations of used building materials and sell them back to the general public. At "ReStore" volunteers are needed to help pick up donations, stock goods in the store, handle the cash register and anything else that may come up during the day. Habitiat for Humanity would not be in existence if it were not for its volunteers.

If I have in some way peaked your interest in volunteering for Habitat for Humanity please contact Carrie Ullery-Smith at cullerysmith@habitatgtr.org. Carrie would be delighted to help you become involed with the Habitat for Humanity community. And if you are a woman there is still time to help with the Womens Build Project. Trust me, you won't regret volunteering!

Lastly, congratulations to the new homeowner. It was wonderful to meet you. May you enjoy many happy years in your new home. Check out some of the touching notes volunteers wrote on the walls of the home while it was being built. Don't you just love it?

Day of Caring 2010

The 15th annual Day of Caring is Thursday, September 9, 2010 and we have teamed up with The Grand Vision! We have also added the first Youth and Family Day of Caring on Saturday September 11, 2010 in partnership with Faith Reformed Church.

We’ll start with a Community Pancake Breakfast at the Open Space at 8:00 am on Thursday September 9 for those teams participating on that day. We’ll also kick off the Youth and Family Day of Caring on Saturday September 11 with a pancake breakfast at Faith Reformed Church for those youth and family teams participating that day. Following the breakfasts, teams will spread out across northwest Michigan to do a day of service.

The Grand Vision will team up with the United Way for the 15th annual Day of Caring. The Grand Vision is a transparent process led by citizens who are willing to make things happen. It’s built upon a basic belief that the citizens of the region can make decisions today to create the region of tomorrow. We are so pleased to join forces to promote our shared vision of citizen action through volunteerism. To find out more, visit www.thegrandvision.org.

Faith Reformed Church is partnering with the Day of Caring for our first Youth and Family Day of Caring. Their volunteers are always open to exploring new ideas or partnerships with other individuals and/or groups who are looking to improve the welfare of the people who live in and around the Grand Traverse area. For more information contact Karin Stevens, Director of Children’s Ministries and Volunteer Development, at karins@faithreformedchurchtc.org.

Ripe for the picking!

Nope, I'm not talking about cherries, although they certainly are ripe for the picking! I'm talking about the prize for the person who correctly guesses my destination. The prize is really quite fabulous and I would love someone to have it, and then tell everyone they know where they got it. Would you all be willing to do me a favor? Will you share this blog on your facebook page? It's easy to do, just click the share button in the upper right corner. My goal in writing this blog is to build awareness for the United Way and the Volunteer Center, educating people about various non-profits in our community and motivating them to volunteer their time and effort. Our community is chock full of hard working, vibrant people who want to have meaningful volunteer experiences, and we at the United Way want to help people find those opportunities. We have partnerships with over 200 non-profits in the surrounding five counties... we know what kind of volunteers they need and can pass that along to you. It's what we are here to do and we love to do it!

That being said I am going to throw out another clue on my last experience. Take a good look at this picture, the clue is screaming at you!