Trending
ELKINS -- The Tygart Valley United Way's annual Day of Action that was postponed back in June has been rescheduled for Friday, Sept. 6.
Local volunteers are needed to help with projects that are scheduled to take place in Randolph, Barbour and Tucker counties. There will be a kick-off event at Elkins City Park beginning at 11 a.m.
"We did lose some student volunteers because of the change in dates," JoLynn Powers, Regional Engagement Director for the Tygart Valley United Way, told The Inter-Mountain. "Overall, many of the volunteers were able to reschedule and still attend, but in Randolph County we are still looking for around 30 volunteers."
Among the counties participating in the Day of Action, Randolph County has the most projects scheduled with work scheduled at the Randolph County Humane Society, Randolph County Homeless Shelter, Tyrand Ministries, Randolph Tucker Children's Advocacy Center, Randolph County Senior Center, and Meals on Wheels.
"The locations in Randolph are varied, but one of the locations that got hardest hit with the date change was the Randolph County Humane Society," Powers said. "So we are looking for volunteers for the Humane Society and specifically for the Homeless Shelter. We lost a lot of volunteers at those two locations because we were getting workers from the Randolph County Technical Center and YouthBuild – we don't have either of those to help now."
There will be one project in Tucker County, which will be at the Senior Center, and one in Barbour County at the Junior City Building.
"This is actually the first year that Tucker County has a project, so we are really excited to be working with Tim Turner at the Senior Center," said Powers. "That is going to be the first project that we have done with the community in Tucker."
Powers said work on the project will begin at noon after the kickoff event at Elkins City Park. Work on the projects will conclude at 4 p.m.
"We will be giving our volunteers free pizza and t-shirts before we head out to work on the projects," she said. "Everyone will check in and make sure they are going to the project locations they are supposed to be going to… We always have a wide variety of volunteers, everything from students to senior citizens.
"We also always have corporate offices who come out and get involved. It's great to always have a wide variety of people who come out and lend a hand. We're getting excited that the event is almost here."
Powers said the Tygart Valley United Way has decided that, in the coming years, it will move Day of Action from June until September. The original date this summer, which was set for June 21, was postponed due to extreme heat.
"Day of Action is going to stay in September, specifically because of the heat and because the date always fell the day after West Virginia Day," she said. "It became really challenging to get volunteers on West Virginia Day. So going forward, the Tygart Valley United Way plans to hold Day of Action on September annually from now on."
For more information or to register for Day of Action, visit www.tvunitedway.org.