On Thursday afternoon, Mandy Jirak and Chris Duncan, both administrative assistants at Infants Remembered In Silence (IRIS), were busy explaining to the two volunteer teams what projects they could lend a hand to.
One team from Daikin, a platinum sponsor of the annual Day of Caring event for Rice County United Way, would stain the front handicapped accessible walkway, while another team from Shattuck St. Mary’s would be organizing donated baby clothes, blankets and hats. Some of the volunteers would be deconstructing wedding dresses.
After the outdoor crew stained the walkway, they would move to the back of the building and sand the deck.
Ahmed Hassan said he recruited six other Daikin employees this year to join him at IRIS: Jacob Menzel, Erik Trump, Jacob Eickhoff, Lidla Rosas Diaz, Taylor Larsen and Chris Wangen. This was Hassan’s third year volunteering for Day of Caring. He said he clearly liked the team building aspect of the effort, as well as seeing a few people he works with in a different setting than the normal work day.
“This annual event is not only fun to do, but it helps the community and is a great way to give back,” said Hassan. “Daikin encourages its employees to volunteer in the community, which I support.”
Teams of volunteers from organizations within the Rice County community that sponsored this year’s Day of Caring event included HomeTown Credit Union, Daikin, All Flex Solutions, Allina Health, Heritage Dental Care, Labor Arbitration Institute, Mayo Clinic Health System, Merchant’s Bank, Jennie O and Post Consumer Brands.
“Day of Caring is a much-loved United Way volunteering tradition that expresses the philanthropic spirit of our community,” said executive director Elizabeth Child. “Teams of volunteers give their time to a variety of service opportunities to help their neighbors and strengthen our community.”
Additional employee volunteer teams fanned out across Faribault and Northfield to help organizations large and small with small, medium and large tasks.
There was a group at the Paradise Center for the Arts who were cleaning out the theater’s basement rooms and hauling unwanted materials outside the alley door to a nearby dumpster.
There were those at Northfield’s Laura Baker campus who were either painting a fence or clearing away the overgrown bushes and underbrush around some of the buildings located on the edge of the Carleton College Arboretum.
Andrei Sivanich, director of community relations at Laura Baker Service Association, said this was the second year his organization had participated in Day of Caring.
“It’s been a really good experience,” said Sivanich. “The volunteers have helped us with projects that we just don’t have the time and resources to take on ourselves. It’s a great chance to connect individuals with our organization — we can share a bit about LBSA with them and they always seem interested in learning more about what we do here.”
After the afternoon of giving, working and helping, each and every Day of Caring worker was invited to a 4 p.m. volunteer celebration featuring ice cream and prizes. In Northfield, the party was held at Bridge Square, and in Faribault, the party was in Central Park.
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