Over a thousand local volunteers came out Friday to take part in Heart of West Michigan United Way’s annual Day of Caring. With the goal of assisting local non-profits, the Day of Caring is the largest corporate volunteer event in West Michigan.
“It never gets old to see people who are willing to give back,” Michelle Van Dyke, the president and CEO of Heart of West Michigan United Way said. “It’s just palpable. So it’s fun to see, but it’s not surprising, because this is West Michigan.” '
This year, nearly 1400 people from 22 different companies in the community volunteered to help non-profits complete 88 different projects in one day, that the non-profits simply didn’t have the resources to do themselves.
“We’ve got people out there who are sorting food at Feeding America, their prepping meals for seniors at Meals on Wheels, their planting for the Kent County’s parks, just so many different things,” Van Dyke said.
At the Day of Caring’s picnic lunch at John Ball Park in Grand Rapids, around 200 volunteers stood in formation to spell out the word “community” as a Drone took aerial pictures from about a hundred feet above.
