Volunteer your time for United Way of Elgin’s Day of Caring

Submitted by United Way of Elgin

The United Way of Elgin will host its 19th annual Day of Caring Friday, Sept. 6. The Day of Caring serves as the traditional kickoff for the annual campaign, as well as a day dedicated to community service.

In years past, they have held communitywide food drives, done multiple projects to benefit local social service agencies, and built a playground in just six hours. This year, they are focusing on the importance of education and the need for volunteers to get involved in local classrooms.

The main focus of this year’s Day of Caring is getting volunteers familiar with the schools. Volunteers will either serve in classrooms by reading to students, helping with math games, or doing art projects, or will be working on school beautification projects such as installing signs to identify plants around the school or painting murals on hallway walls.

A special addition to this year’s event will be the chance for volunteers to learn more about Elgin Area School District U-46’s Game Changers Mentor Program.

Ron Raglin, the Chief of Equity and Social Justice for the district, will be on hand at the Day of Caring breakfast to talk about the program and to meet afterward with individuals interested in sign up to mentor a high school student who just needs a little extra encouragement to meet their goals and graduate from high school.

The Day of Caring will begin with a breakfast buffet sponsored by the Grand Victoria Casino, and a short program to introduce attendees to the importance of education in Elgin, and what United Way and partners are currently doing to make sure kids start school ready to learn and are able to succeed in their educational pursuits.

Visit www.uwelgin.org for the online volunteer form to sign up yourself or a team of friends or co-workers. You can also download and mail in a copy of the form.

For details, call Elissa Kojzarek at (847) 741-2259.