Nearly seven hundred students, faculty, staff and parents from St. Ursula Academy spent Wednesday, April 23, 2008 participating in a United Way Day of Caring throughout Toledo. The Day of Caring matches groups of St. Ursula Academy students with volunteer projects at non-profit agencies throughout the community. The volunteers spent the day completing a variety of service projects including painting, gardening, helping with spring cleaning, and working with people.
More than 15 organizations benefited from the volunteer work of St. Ursula, including Toledo Metroparks, Catholic Club, Friendly Center, East Toledo Family Center, Grace Community Center, Sunshine Children’s Home, St. James Headstart, Jefferson Headstart, and Cherry St. Mission.
“St. Ursula is delighted to partner with United Way on this second Day of Caring. It has been a great opportunity to work with students, teachers, staff, and parents for our Toledo community. Learning about giving is valuable, but giving together within our local community is priceless,” said Jane Charette, President of St. Ursula Academy.
Kevin Shannon, Director of Campus Ministry at St. Ursula and Coordinator of the SUA Day of Caring added, "This is a tremendous opportunity for our students to give back to the community. It is a learning experience which helps them grow spiritually as individuals and also understand how their involvement as a group can make such significant and remarkable changes."
“Helping people is always a good day,“ agreed Chelsea Pariseau, a senior at St. Ursula. “We painted and cleaned up the yard at the Anne Grady Center, and the residents greatly appreciated our work. It really made me feel like a better person.” Junior Elizabeth Truman joined over 60 of her peers, faculty, and staff in cleaning the new walking trails at International Park and walked away with her own sense of accomplishment, stating, “A man from Metro Parks spoke to us to thank us for caring enough to help. We had fun; people who were walking the path stopped to thank us for cleaning up – the fishermen even stopped to thank us.” Local businesses picked up on the caring attitude; when The Navy Bistro at The Docks saw the volunteer effort, they offered cold drinks and their patio for the girls to enjoy their lunches. As one volunteer put it for all the workers, “We were here to work, and we worked hard!”
