Thompson Nicola Cariboo United Way

July 14th at noon, lunch provided.

It is accross from 7-11 on Summit Drive

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A huge project was tackled at Cariboo Child Care Society at TRU this past week for another great United Way Day of Daring. On June 19^th, 2009, volunteers from Spectra Energy joined staff from Cariboo Child Care to make some major changes to their toddler playground area. With the use of a backhoe, generously donated by United Rentals‘ Kamloops location, the team of volunteers removed old play apparatuses, rebuilt new ones, built a huge sand box and a large gardening area, and created a navigable new pathway through the steep play area. Supplies and equipment were made available thanks to a generous donation from Spectra Energy, and support from Rona. The new play area will be greatly appreciated by both the staff and the children who receive care on site, as it will provide a fun and safe new place to play and explore. Greg and Marian of Cariboo Child Care Society also provided a delicious lunch and expressed their gratitude and the importance of the project, which will help facilitate the goals of the Society. With the project completed and weather staying warm and sunny, overall the Day of Caring was a huge success!

Teamwork from the volunteers

A big job!

The hardworking crew!

Yet another successful Day of Caring took place on June 11^th, 2009 when at the Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association hosted a crew of hardworking volunteers from the four Kamloops branches of the Interior Savings Credit Union. The crew tackled a huge portion of what is considered “Phase 1”of KTRA’s expansion plan for the coming years. Over the course of a full day, the volunteers organized, stained and installed over 400 boards to expedite the completion of the new 10-stall horse barn on the west end of the riding property. Ken and Connie from KTRA hosted a delicious lunch for the crew and expressed the importance of the project to both the organization and members of our community. KTRA runs three programs to help over 200 people in our community every year, and plan to expand this scope. The non-profit offers a safe, therapeutic environment for adults and children with physical, developmental, and medical challenges. The volunteers from Interior Savings Credit Union worked extremely hard to complete their work for the day and enjoyed a fulfilling and fun Day of Caring.

The Interior Savings Credit Union volunteer crew hard at work

The newly-stained boards in place in the barn walls

The proud Interior Savings Credit Union team

Over the weekend of May 30^th and 31^st, a big team of volunteers from Urban Systems joined the staff and volunteers of People In Motion at Cedar Creek Camp to take part in a 2-day overhaul of the camp grounds. Cedar Creek Camp is a 10 acre lease inside White Lake Park that is developed and maintained by People in Motion volunteers for the use of individuals living with a disability, and its function is to provide community groups and individuals with a rustic camping experience. The goal of this Day of Caring project was to increase the accessibility of the site by expanding the dock and reworking the trail system. The fantastic work crew planned and built a whole new portion of dock and railing that will allow easier wheel chair access and mooring for the organization’s boat. The volunteers also cleared walkways to improve access, and restructured the trail system to increase safety and accessibility. The volunteers from Urban Systems were also treated to a full 2-day camping excursion on the site, and got to have fun and work hard alongside the staff and volunteers from People in Motion. The weekend was an extraordinary example of volunteerism and community engagement as so many hands made the work lighter and the event even more fun. Congratulations to the crew for planning and implementing such a successful Day of Caring.

Tidying the trail network

Working together to bring portions of the dock to the lakeshore

The proud work crew

Day of Caring is an annual community initiative designed to foster a sense of caring through volunteerism. It is not a fund-raising event, but an opportunity for businesses and their employees to undertake worthwhile projects for non-profit organizations. To get involved, please contact your local United Way.

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Al Hatton President & CEO UWC-C Speaks on New Techology

Almost a decade ago, according to Hatton, the voluntary sector and the federal government signed an historic accord to deepen the relationship between the two. “We need to revisit that accord and live up its principles,” he said. “It has pretty much been shelved.”

In the meantime, the United Way of Canada is taking its own baby steps into Web 2.0. Although he doesn’t see a lot of potential in Twitter at the moment, Hatton said his younger staff in particular is connecting to all the latest media, including Facebook, as a way to reach out to their communities and work with volunteers.

In Toronto, the United Way recently launched GiveADamn.ca, which uses blogs, a Flickr photo stream and user-generated videos to highlight how young volunteers are making a difference in the city.

“The Web site has been created to get individuals to engage with United Way Toronto in a way that they want to be engaged, which is why interaction is emphasized,” he said in his speech. “These channels challenge all of us to rethink what our core business or mission is. We now have to decide how we use these new tools to engage people.”

On the back end, the United Way is dealing with internal IT issues that would be familiar to many small businesses owners. One of them is IT integration – and using Web-based software to ease the pain.

“We would have one system that was Microsoft-oriented, one that was Apple-oriented. They wouldn’t be able to talk to each other very well,” he said. “The Web has really changed that . . . though (online software) may not always work 100 per cent.”