United Way's Day of Caring: Morgantown Mission & Butler County Library

Sun, 07/30/2017 - 10:04am — Diane Dyer

Wednesday, July 26, 2017, marks United Way of Southern Kentucky’s ninth annual Day of Caring. Over 55 individuals volunteered at the Butler County Public Libary and the Morgantown Mission.

A Feeding America Mobile Food Pantry and distribution center was set up at Morgantown Mission on Wednesday. United Way volunteers help to sort, organize, and load fresh produce and donated grocery items for residents of Butler County.

Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland is a regional food bank that assists more than 174,500 people in 42 Kentucky counties each year. Through support from individuals and organizations, such as United Way, FAKH distributes over 14 million pounds of food to over 220 food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. FAKH also sponsors various hunger relief programs including the BackPack™ Program and Senior Box (CSFP) Program.

The Bookworm Bash took place at the Butler County Library, where they gave out approximately 1500 books to over 340 children of all ages. Books were collected in various locations around the county. Kentucky author Leigh Ann Florence and her dogs Woody and Chloe were on hand for the special event.

Morgantown Fireman Dean Jenkins and his dog Wilson visited with the children also. Dean talked to children about fire safety and showed them different parts of the firetruck and how it works. Over 340 people attended the event and 1500 books were given out to children and families in the community. This was all possible thanks to the United Way of Southern Kentucky, local residents who donated the books for the event and local volunteers.

Landry Hankins enjoyed meeting Woody.

As a result of this year’s Day of Caring, more than 1,000 volunteers representing more than 70 companies and organizations across Allen, Barren, Butler, Hart, Logan, Simpson, and Warren Counties joined local non-profit organizations to complete more than 70 projects.

A few of the volunteers. L to R Kathy Lawrence, Jennifer Hammers, Stacey Rice, Kenna Martin, Pamela Staples
The United Way Day of Caring is a structured volunteer opportunity that provides participants with a peek at volunteering. As part of the Day of Caring, businesses and organizations can commit to offering their employees a chance to "step away from their desks" to provide hands-on, volunteer labor for a wide variety of projects.
Following in line with United Way’s Community Impact focus, all Day of Caring projects were designed to impact issues in Education, Income, Health, and Safety Net.