TERRE HAUTE —
Soapy brushes and lots of towels were in the hands of volunteers at the Terre Haute Humane Society on Friday as just one location for this year’s Day of Action conducted by the United Way of the Wabash Valley.
The volunteers weren’t washing animals. Instead, they were washing dozens of animal carriers that are used to transport or temporarily confine the dogs and cats sheltered at the United Way member agency.
The annual Day of Action kicked off at 7:30 with a free breakfast at the Zorah Shrine Temple, and then spread to 25 projects with more than 300 volunteers donating a half day of service to nonprofit organizations in the community.
Projects ranged from landscaping and painting to computer repair, and many projects involved the 37 United Way partner agencies in the Wabash Valley.
At the Humane Society’s shelter on Fruitridge Avenue, volunteers were doing work that would take one person about two weeks to complete, so volunteer coordinator Susan Waltz said she was ecstatic about the 21 people helping out for about four hours.
“This kind of work takes about two weeks and a day, and you’d never have two weeks and a day to have this kind of weather,” Waltz said of the sunny morning as the carriers were dismantled, cleaned, reassembled, inventoried and stored for future use. “In truth, this project has been needing to be done since December.”
The shelter received a bunch of animal carriers from rescue operations in the northern part of the state. Those crates have been scattered in various buildings throughout the property, but will now be cleanly organized in one location, thanks to the Day of Action volunteers.
“I get so frustrated when I’m here by myself,” Waltz said, “because, as you can see, we have a lot of work to be done.”
Nearby, work was ongoing for a new tall fenced area to exercise dogs capable of jumping over the current fenced-in exercise area.
That $10,000 fence project was possible due in part to a grant written by Jennifer Cox, along with donations.
Groups from Indiana State University, Old National Bank, Union Hospital and Eli Lilly Co. were making the action happen at the animal shelter.
Meanwhile, about 30 volunteers from Kellogg’s were at Dobbs Memorial Park to work on various projects.
Mildred Grimsley was devoting her time to the Native American Heirloom Garden.
“We’re trying to save the sunflowers and violets, and get down to the dirt,” Grimsley said during a break in her weeding and digging.
At the Terre Haute Children’s Museum, a group from the Elanco Division of Eli Lilly were busy building cabinets for the museum’s kitchen and agriculture exhibit. Another group was inside painting an exhibit.
Craig Dixon of Elanco said the company is a big supporter of United Way of the Wabash Valley, and the Day of Action always receives a lot of support from the company’s employees.
Other agencies benefiting from Day of Action projects included Big Brothers Big Sisters, Bright Hope Riders of the Wabash Valley Therapeutic Riding Program, Catholic Charities of Terre Haute-Ryves Youth Center, Child Adult Resource Services, Community Alliance and Services for Young Children, Council on Domestic Abuse, Goodwill Industries, Kid Kare Project, Lifeline, Light House Mission, Parke-Vermillion County Humane Society, Sisters of Providence, United Cerebral Palsy, United Child Care, Valley Child Development Center, Vigo County Historical Society, Vigo County Public Library, Wabash Valley Habitat for Humanity, Wabash Valley Senior Citizens Center and West Vigo Community Center.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (812) 231-4254 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
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Heirloom garden: Kellogg's employees Mildred Grimsley and Mike Lebeda work weeding the Native American Heirloom Garden at Dobbs Park Friday during the Day of Action event.
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Got weeds?: Volunteers Mark Williamson and Morgan McMillian pull weeds around the sign of the Terre Haute Humane Shelter Friday morning as the participate in the Day of Action.
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Critter crates: Volunteers from ISU, Union Hospital, Old National Bank and Eli Lilly work cleaning animal crates at the Terre Haute Humane Shelter Friday as part of the Day of Action event.
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Garden party: Kellogg's employee Mildred Grimsley works in the Native American Heirloom Garden at Dobbs Park Friday.
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VIDEO: United Way Day of Action a huge success
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