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Painting, raking and window washing were among the tasks tackled Friday by about 800 volunteers at 55 sites throughout Allen County.
The volunteer effort was part of the annual United Way of Allen County Day of Caring, which aims to connect people who want to help others with individuals, non-profit organizations and schools needing “a little bit of extra elbow grease,” according to Mary Tyndall, communication coordinator for United Way of Allen County.
Ryan Krueckeberg, 26, had participated in the Day of Caring with his employer, Lincoln Financial, but this year he wanted to start his own team. A few months ago he started a Facebook group, made a few phone calls and persuaded about 10 of his friends to come on board.
Krueckeberg and his friends spent the day at South Wayne Elementary, where they trimmed hedges, painted awnings and retouched a colorful United States map that stretched across the playground concrete.
Adam Shelpman, 26, and Mandy Longenberger, 25, spent much of the morning painting the map. Both took a vacation day to volunteer.
“I’ve been in Vegas today, so the day’s been great,” Shelpman said, laughing.
Holding a sign with instructions in large print, John Lassen, 61, director of the food bank system for Associated Churches of Fort Wayne and Allen County, instructed a group of about 15 ResCare volunteers on how to sort food.
“If the cans don’t have labels, we can’t use them,” Lassen said. He also cautioned volunteers to look for severely dented cans.
After the briefing ended, volunteers were dispatched to their work stations, and Lassen fielded a flurry of questions.
Some were about a seemingly simple food – beans.
While baked beans were to go in one box, chili went in another, Lassen explained.
Despite the instructions, Lassen seemed sure that keeping the beans straight would be tough. “And I guarantee you … there will be other beans,” he said.
Refusing help, Dorothy Woods, 64, navigated her wheelchair out of the home she’s had for about 20 years.
Although the process was slow and difficult, Woods says she prefers to be independent.
Before having open heart surgery sometime around 2003, Woods used to work in her yard, tending flowers and raking grass clippings.
But now, unless she has someone to help push her chair, she can travel only to the edge of her gravel drive.
With her wheelchair perched on that edge, Woods pointed to the spot where volunteers would erect a new, shiny wire fence along her backyard.
Next year, that fence will support a colorful spread of morning glories.
About 15 BFGoodrich volunteers gathered at Early Childhood Alliance Center on East Wayne Street to give the inside and the outside of the building a thorough cleaning.
The team, which has been at the same location the last two years, spent much of the morning washing outside walls, scrubbing bathrooms and the kitchen, and disinfecting trains, buildings blocks, bouncing balls and other toys.
Although most of the beneficiaries of the work were preoccupied with napping, snacking and reading time, the teams’ hard work did not go unnoticed.
“I saw them washing the windows outside,” said 7-year-old Xavier Moore, whose favorite toys – large building blocks – were cleaned by the team. “I wouldn’t want to do that outside today. I’d be all hot and sweaty.”
As one group of volunteers from General Electric worked Friday morning at Whitington Homes and Services, another group was using bright colors to paint the inside of the Boys & Girls Club.
Kyle Ricketts, 22, stood on top of a counter in the club’s game room and surveyed the rainbow-colored furniture and walls.
“I feel like I’m in a Lego box,” he said to his fellow volunteers, who were painting the walls a bright royal blue.
Nearby, Jim Shumaker and Bob Heniser met for the first time Friday morning. An hour later, wearing sweat-drenched GE T-shirts, they rebuilt an aging picnic table.
“I don’t even work for GE,” said Shumaker, 61, as he stood in the backyard of Whitington Homes and Services, a social-service agency for children. “My wife works there, and she said I shouldn’t be out sitting on the boat and drinking beer – I should be out working. And here I am.”
– Devon Haynie and Becky Manley
