Over 180 community volunteers participated in the fifth annual United Good Neighbors (UGN) Day of Caring on Sept. 18

Day of Caring celebrates the spirit of volunteerism in Jefferson County: “Volunteers are absolutely key to helping nonprofits succeed here in Jefferson County” said Steve Rafoth, UGN board president.

Day of Caring is also a kick-off celebration for the 2015 UGN Fall Fund Drive.

“UGN has set a goal to raise $375,00 this year – $50,000 increase from last year and we are confident that with the support of our community, we can do it” said Rafoth in a press release.

UGN is the primary umbrella organization through which donations are funneled to a variety of programs based in Jefferson County and serving Jefferson County residents.

The Day of Caring event opened at Mountain View Commons gym with a welcome to volunteers and organizations from Rafoth, and a thank you to Wells Fargo and Shelli K Cates, Edward Jones financial advisor, for generous sponsorship support.

It was also noted that the Port Townsend Paper Corp., the largest private employer in Jefferson County, has been the single largest supporter of UGN for 59 years.

SPECIAL VOLUNTEERS

Port Townsend City Councilor Deborah Stinson read the Day of Caring Proclamation, and Carla Caldwell, UGN executive director, announced the 2015 United Good Neighbors Award winners: Judith Alexander, Local 20/20 volunteer; Richard Nordberg, community volunteer; and Sam Vierra, Quilcene High School student.

Sam Vierra, 17, was recommended by Gary Stebbins, Quilcene School principal and Larry Karp, Quilcene Fire Rescue chief. Vierra is too young to be an official fire district volunteer, yet has been a steady volunteer with fire safety projects. For example, this summer during response to a barn fire, he assisted the tender operator, which allowed district volunteers to take on other duties.

Richard Nordberg was nominated by Vicky Grauberger of the First Presbyterian Church for going above and beyond to help community members and visitors.

Judy Alexander was nominated by Deborah Stinson, secretary of the Local 20/20 group, for her continued leadership as the organization celebrates 10 years.

"We cannot give out too many volunteer awards in this community," Caldwell noted, because there are so many wonderful people who help.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Following the kick-off celebrations, teams of volunteers donned Day of Caring T-shirts and spread out across the community to complete a 2-3 hour project, including the following: The Business Guides and Friends of Port Townsend Library volunteers gardened at the Port Townsend Library; NAMI spruced up Working Image; PT Rotary volunteers painted mounting stages for the Horse Partners therapeutic riding program; the Boiler Room and ECHHO volunteers helped clean up dog exercise yard for the Jefferson County Humane Society; the Boiler Room and PT Rotary volunteers built garden beds to grow more vegetables at the Port Townsend High School Foodbank Farm and Garden; Wells Fargo volunteers washed windows at South Seven Senior Living; Swan School cleaned the shop at the ReCyclery; Nikki’s Rockin’ Crew built deer fencing, spread mulch and cleaned weeds at the Quimper Grange Food Bank Gardens; PT Paper Corp. and Jefferson Healthcare volunteers assembled bags of food for the Backpack for Kids Weekend Nutrition program; Port Ludlow Associates beautified the grounds at Camp Beausite, operated as a recreational center for people with special needs; PT Rotary volunteers added a few coats of oil to preserve the information booth at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds; and COAST ran a blanket drive for the men and women’s shelter guests.

In addition to volunteering with the ReCyclery, Port Townsend's Swan School organized additional projects for their students so the entire school could participate in UGN’s Day of Caring, including picking up trash, playing piano for residents of Victoria House, and making posters for a blanket drive.

Students at the Jefferson Community School are to work on three Day of Caring projects on Wednesday, Sept. 23, including working on a home for Habitat for Humanity of Jefferson County, gardening at the Boiler Room, and painting fences and power washing at Fort Worden.

“We’ve had an amazing turnout for Day of Caring, over 150 people participated in the Day of Caring event this year” said Nikki Russell, UGN director of community engagement. "We look forward to seeing the Day of Caring event grow each year as a celebration of the power of volunteers in our communities."