In support of United Way of Southwest Wyoming’s annual Helping Hands Day, 65 volunteers rolled up their sleeves and completed projects for Sweetwater County nonprofits and senior citizens during August and September.
Together, nine teams, volunteered 361 service hours for their community. The YWCA of Sweetwater County and Boys & Girls Club of Sweetwater County hosted teams, while the others completed projects at the homes of senior citizens. The total value of volunteer time and supplies is $15,328.44 for these projects.
Having volunteers complete projects for nonprofits allows them to use less of their funding for maintenance and repairs and more for direct services. For senior citizens, many cannot afford to have needed projects done and cannot physically do the projects themselves.
One of those senior citizens was Sally Myers. After receiving a notice to fix or vacate her home for failing to maintain her home within lease rules, she reached out to United Way.
“I was worried I was going to be evicted. At 82 years old, I live alone, I am on a fixed-income and have health issues. I am not able paint and fix the skirting on my trailer myself,” said Myers, “I am so grateful to United Way and its volunteers for helping me with this burden. They don’t know how much it means.”
With the help of the United Way of Southwest Wyoming Board of Directors and work crew from the Sweetwater County Detention Center's Inmate Community Service Program, Myers is now in compliance and able to stay in her home. The teams scraped and painted her fence and deck and replaced and painted the skirting.
“This was one of the larger projects that we’ve taken on, but we knew we just had to figure it out. I don’t want to scare anyone off of volunteering, not all projects are this big. Projects range in size and skill level. Volunteers choose projects that are a good match for their team. I personally wouldn’t be able to replace the skirting but I knew I had board members who were more than capable of taking on that task, and happy to help out,” commented Kelly Frink, Executive Director United Way of Southwest Wyoming.
United Way secures sponsorships to help with the cost of supplies. This year’s sponsors are: MPLX, J.R. Simplot Company, ExxonMobil, Bayer, Jim Bridger Power Plant, City of Rock Springs, Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County and RSNB Bank.
Volunteers included teams from: ExxonMobil, Jim Bridger Power Plant and Utility Workers Union of America Local 127, and J.R. Simplot Company. Other volunteers were: Attitude of Gratitude, Sweetwater County Detention Center's Inmate Community Service Program, Nickle/ Tolman Family, and Gary Pritchard.