Volunteers Take Over For A Day In Benton County

STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF Pope, right, and Tracy Price spread mulch at the Helen R. Walton Children's Enrichment Center in Bentonville.

STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF Pope, right, and Tracy Price spread mulch at the Helen R. Walton Children's Enrichment Center in Bentonville.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

— Volunteers wearing black T-shirts with the words "It's coming ... " in white letters moved about Saving Grace House on Wednesday morning.

What was coming was more than 600 volunteers who offered their time to help 49 nonprofit organizations with various projects through United Way of Northwest Arkansas' Live United Day, said Bendi Toland, volunteer center manager.

AT A GLANCE

Live United

United Way of Northwest Arkansas’ Live United is one of the largest single-day volunteer efforts of the year and serves Benton, Washington and Madison counties in Arkansas as well as McDonald County in Missouri.

Local volunteers are paired with nonprofit agencies to help with projects.

More than 600 volunteers participated this year, 475 of which were Walmart and Sam’s Club employees, Bendi Toland said.

More teams participated, but did not register, she said.

Source: Staff Report

It's one of the largest single-day volunteer efforts of the year and serves Benton, Washington and Madison counties in Arkansas as well as McDonald County in Missouri, according to the event's website.

This was the first year for the day to have a theme. It was "The Volunteer Apocalypse: Attacking Projects Across NWA."

Organizers envisioned what they wanted the volunteers to look like in the community during a brainstorming session, Toland said.

"We just wanted to have them out everywhere... (for there) to be a takeover of volunteers for the day," she said.

There were 17 volunteers from Walmart's corporate finance team that served at Saving Grace House, an organization that offers assistance to young women who are phasing out of foster care, are homeless or on the verge of being homeless. Volunteers painted bathrooms, deep-cleaned, worked on the courtyard and completed other work jobs.

Margie Molesso and Julie Rollo teamed to paint a bathroom. Molesso said the day is two-fold as the team members love Northwest Arkansas and want to make it a better place by volunteering, and they also are encouraged by Walmart to do so.

"Walmart is really supportive of us leaving our day jobs to come give time back to the community," she said. This was Molesso's sixth year to participate in Live United.

Bob Stout was on the other side of the house installing new locks on a couple of doors. The day allows his team members to give back to the community, but it's also a great team-building activity, he said.

"It's a great exercise for my team to get away from the office and do something worth while," he said. "(It) promotes teamwork and unity."

The Saving Grace House celebrated its fourth anniversary in January.

The house has 14 rooms for young women in transition. They are provided with life skills training, safe relationships and education, said Becky Shaffer, executive director and co-founder.

"We are giving them a step up, not a handout," she said.

The service given to the house is "huge" as it not only helps with checking items off the to-do list, but it also gives the organization exposure as some of the volunteers may have never heard of it, Shaffer said.

"It's huge because it gets more voices out there in the community about what we're doing," she said. "These are the daughters of Northwest Arkansas, and we need the community to be involved here."

Rollo, who has participated in Live United for three years, said the day gives her a chance to learn about an organization while volunteering.

Stout said he didn't know about Saving Grace House before Wednesday but was "very impressed" with it.

In Bentonville, teams wrestled the wind outside to plant trees and spread mulch at the Helen R. Walton Children's Enrichment Center.

The center provides quality care and education to children 6 weeks to 5 years old and works with about 300 other early childhood centers in the area to improve quality care and education for all families, said Michelle Stephens, executive director.

The center had nine volunteers from Walmart helping Wednesday. Five were from the Walmart corporate realty team, one of which was Bret Maurras.

Walmart has a talented and devoted work force, and it's rewarding to see that strong work ethic and dedication on a local basis, he said.

"(It let's) people in the community know that we truly care," Maurras said. "We're not just focused on retail sales across the U.S. or internationally; it's about making a difference locally."

Maurras was bundled up with a coat, ear warmers and gloves as he dug a hole for a coniferous tree near the backside of the outdoor play area. Temperatures dropped about 30 degrees from Tuesday, and wind picked whistled strongly.

"It was beautiful yesterday, but you make due with what you have," Maurras said of the weather. "Again, it's not about us or our comfort. It's about making a difference for these little children and giving them a quality place to play in."

It was also Maurras' teammate Laura Pope's third year to serve during this event. She said she liked the team environment it provided.

"We might be all going and doing different things, but it's all for one purpose," she said. "It's exciting to know that in one day such a difference can be made in so many parts of Northwest Arkansas. That's what keeps me coming back."

The center saved about $2,500 between the donated materials and volunteer labor, Stephens said.

"That's a huge cost savings and allows us to use those dollars in other places," she said.

NW News on 03/13/2014