Two weeks after United Way of Greater New Bedford officially launched its LIVE UNITED movement, local volunteers spent a day putting those words into action.

Employees from 9 local companies participated in United Way of Greater New Bedford’s Day of Caring today, an annual event in which area businesses loan out employees to provide nonprofit agencies with much needed support.

“The Day of Caring reaches beyond receiving help from a few volunteers for just a day,” said Louis Nisenbaum, Executive Director of the Nemasket Group.

“It reminds us of the real good that exists in our community; it serves as an opportunity for us to connect with fellow citizens and receive very tangible support for our work.”

Sponsored by Sylvia Group of Insurance Agencies, Dunkin’ Donuts and Poland Spring, the Day of Caring helps nonprofits keep their costs low by coordinating volunteer support for various projects – such as landscaping, painting, or spring cleaning – that they would otherwise be unable to complete.

Companies that took part in the Day of Caring were: Bank of America; Citizens Bank; Five Star Companies; Lockheed Martin; Moore & Isherwood; Morgan Advanced Ceramics/Alberox Products; Sovereign Bank; Sylvia Group of Insurance Agencies and Tofias PC.

To learn more about the many volunteer opportunities available in the Greater New Bedford Area, visit United Way’s new website at www.unitedwayofgnb.org.

United Way of Greater New Bedford

United Way of Greater New Bedford works to bring together individuals, businesses and organizations to address our community’s most urgent needs.  We believe that to truly improve lives in our region, we must act collectively to impact the critical issues affecting our neighborhoods – building a better community for us all.

Through an annual campaign, we provide funding to more than 60 programs at local health and human service agencies serving residents of New Bedford, Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Freetown, Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester and Wareham.  In addition, we administer a number of programs to address specific needs in our community.  Through the Hunger Commission of Southeastern Massachusetts we supply food to emergency soup kitchens and food pantries in Bristol County, while our Community Building Mini-Grants Program provides funding and skill-building opportunities to all-volunteer groups. In addition, our Volunteer Solutions database provides the only local online volunteer tool to match willing volunteers with nonprofits in need of support.

It takes our whole community working together to reach our goals.  Whether it requires fundraising, planning, or just getting people to work together, that’s what we do. 

We need your support!  Visit www.unitedwayofgnb.org to learn more about the different ways that you can help.

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