Submitted by the United Way of Northwest Georgia
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The United Way of Northwest Georgia is celebrating Make A Difference Day today. The public was invited to participate in eight service projects in Whitfield and Murray counties.
Through the annual support of Mohawk Industries, United Way awarded $10,000 in grants to local organizations in support of volunteer projects. This is the 12th year of Mohawk Industries’ sponsorship of this day of service.
Volunteer projects completed Friday were:
• Color the Gym at the Northwest Georgia Family Crisis Center.
This project was completed on Friday. Volunteers from Shaw Global Sourcing painted the gym.
• Build a Learning Garden at Dawnville Elementary School.
On Friday, volunteers mulched, installed weather stations, planted monkey grass, rebuilt a pond and installed educational signs.
Volunteers are needed today for the following:
• Butterflies & Birds at Fort Mountain.
Volunteer to plant native wildflowers to attract butterflies and birds at the Big Rock Nature Trail at Fort Mountain State Park. Make butterfly boxes and bird houses, paint benches and railings, and trim existing shrubbery. Place timber steps in trail so it will be an easier walk, currently unstable footing. Volunteers are also needed to clear debris along the creek area to open the view. Additional sitting will be created near the creek and garden. Ninety volunteers are needed from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Painting the Women’s Shelter at the Carter Hope Center.
Volunteers are needed to repaint the inside of two women’s houses at the Carter Hope Center. Tasks will include applying paint by rollers and brushes to walls of common areas and bedrooms. Walls will be spackled, sanded, cleaned and taped off in advance by the residents. All volunteers must be at least 18. Eighty volunteers are needed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Build a Rock Climbing Wall at the Boy & Girls Club.
This project was started on Friday with more than 100 volunteers from Shaw, Southeast High School’s DECA Club, and New Hope Middle. More volunteers are needed today. The completion of this project will provide access for more than 2,00 club members to an on-site climbing wall. Volunteers are needed to install the rock climbing wall, paint, perform yard work, landscape and general maintenance of the Al Rollins Boys & Girls Club. Eighty volunteers are needed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Lawn Extravaganza at Mercy’s Door.
Help spruce up three residential homes for foster children. Volunteers are needed to mulch, remove fallen limbs, build a storage shed and sort donations. Volunteers are needed today: Houses 1 & 2 each need six volunteers (ages 5-plus) to mulch and landscape from 10 a.m. to noon; House 3 needs six volunteers (ages 5-plus) to mulch and landscape from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; House 3 needs 78 volunteers to help with tree removal and limb stacking (ages 14-plus) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Houses 1, 2 and 3 each need 30 volunteers (ages 16-plus) to build a storage shed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; House 3 needs 10 volunteers (ages 9-plus) to help with sorting donations from noon to 3 p.m.
• Chatsworth Nature Explorer Classroom.
Classroom is at the corner of Elm Street and Highway 411 in downtown Chatsworth. Volunteers are needed to install bushes that will attract butterflies and hang butterfly houses. Thirty-six volunteers are needed (including four adult volunteers who can help dig holes) from 8 a.m. to noon.
• Conasauga Watershed Cleanup.
This year, the event will take place at six locations: Conasauga River at Lower King’s Bridge/Norton Bridge, Conasauga River at Highway 2 bridge, Conasauga River at Carlton Petty Road bridge, Holly Creek (Murray County, on the Chattahoochee National Forest), Mill Creek tributary in the city of Dalton and Coahulla Creek at Prater’s Mill. All ages are welcome: kids under 13 should have adult supervision. Unlimited number of volunteers are needed from 9 a.m. to noon.
Created by USA Weekend, Make a Difference Day is an annual volunteer event that takes place on the fourth Saturday of every October. Millions of Americans across the country will spend Make a Difference Day doing volunteer projects to improve their communities and helping neighbors in need.
The day is the largest community service effort in the nation, symbolizing the ongoing volunteer efforts of corporations, government leaders, charitable organizations and concerned citizens by focusing on projects that can be implemented on that one day.
United Way of Northwest Georgia annually connects more than 3,500 volunteers to local needs through the Volunteer Center. Visit www.ourunitedway.org/volunteer or call (706) CAN-HELP for a listing of more than 80 local volunteer opportunities.
