‘The power of collective action’: Finding meaning in volunteering for Go All IN Day
Volunteers prepare gardens for winter Sept. 9, 2021, at Growing Places Indy for United Way of Central Indiana’s first Go All IN Day.
For one day in September, more than 500 people tackled tasks across the region.
They volunteered their time and finished more than 70 projects for local nonprofits, grassroots groups and community organizations that needed their help.
On June 24, volunteers will do it all over again.
Now, it’s time to gather your co-workers, friends and families and sign up to volunteer for United Way’s second Go All IN Day, sponsored this year by WRTV.
During this year’s organized day of community service, volunteers will plant community gardens, make meals for kids experiencing homelessness and pack shoes to be sent to Ukraine. They’ll work on beautification projects at nonprofits throughout United Way’s seven-county service area of Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Marion, Morgan and Putnam counties.
The first batch of projects have been posted, with a variety of indoor, outdoor and virtual options available.
Interested volunteers can view projects and sign up at www.volunteercentralindiana.org/go-all-in-day. Check back often as new projects will be added as they come in.
Last year’s event made an impact on those who volunteered. We asked several United Way staffers to share their experiences and why volunteering is important to them:
Christie Snyder
Job at United Way: senior manager of corporate engagement
Project you participated in during last year's Go All IN Day: building a memorial garden at Mental Health America of Hendricks County
Tell us about a favorite memory of yours from last year's Go All IN Day.
One of my favorite memories from working at Go All IN Day last year was the opportunity to contribute my time and feel I made a difference to someone who was experiencing a loss of a loved one.
Our task was to prepare a flower bed for a memorial garden and also spruce up the grounds for the dedication ceremony. Mental Health America has a support group for those who have lost loved ones to addiction. During the morning, I found myself working beside a grieving mother who recently lost her teen son. She was there for the same reason I was, to give back and make a difference in the community.
The memorial garden was especially impactful for her as she works through her grief. As a mom of a son whose life was cut short, not by suicide but by a violent crime, I too felt a certain peace in knowing I was going to help another parent or family member work through grief by planting a plant in honor of a lost child or loved one.
You see, some of your greatest fears as a surviving parent is that people will forget those memories of your child and the impact he or she had on this world. You want to keep their memory alive!
This small nonprofit in Hendricks County found a way to keep the memory alive for a parent through this memorial garden.
This experience was a great opportunity for me to learn about a nonprofit outside of my community and the great work they do to help people working through a difficult time.
Jessica French
Job at United Way: senior director of communications
Project you participated in during last year's Go All IN Day: landscaping at The Salvation Army’s Worship and Community Center at Eagle Creek
What did you take away from your experience volunteering during Go All IN Day?
When Lt. Robyn Hubbard from the Eagle Creek Salvation Army came out to thank our volunteer team for our 3+ hours of pulling weeds, chopping down vines, edging, raking and cleaning up the plant bed around the property, I felt her appreciation through the look in her eyes, rather than the words from her mouth.
She looked *relieved.*
Relieved that she didn’t have to think about weeds. Relieved that her team didn’t have to encounter the spiders as we yanked on old growth around the Salvation Army sign. Relieved that the property now looks fresh, clean, safe and new – especially to those kids and adults who needed help from their local Salvation Army.
I don’t love taking care of my own lawn and flower beds. But here, I felt rejuvenated as I landscaped. Anytime you put an electric-powered weed eater in my hand, watch out! I edged with delight and laughed alongside my co-workers and friends. One additional volunteer showed up to join our party, and it was a delight meeting someone new. This was his first volunteer experience, and when he left, he said “thanks so much for this opportunity. I’ll definitely be back. This was fun – and really meaningful.”
The Salvation Army’s tagline is “Doing the Most Good,” and that’s exactly how it felt.
Why should people volunteer? Simply, people in our community need our help. Even for what we think are small projects – they are big projects in the eyes of others. For Lt. Hubbard, she didn’t have to stress about those plant beds anymore. She didn’t have to get up in the morning, put on old clothes, try and find her gardening gloves, and take time out of her day to clean up the yard. She wasn’t the landscaper that day – we were. She could do her job, because we did our volunteer duty.
Best of all, it was a lovely blue-sky day. It felt good to go home with a few sore muscles but with this achievement under my belt. When I got there, I looked at my own lawn, weeds and flower beds and said, “you’ll have to wait.”
Thomas Benoist
Job at United Way: major gifts manager
Project you participated in during last year's Go All IN Day: St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry in Noblesville
What does Go All IN Day mean to you?
I like to live my life by “going all in” with anything that I do. Being committed to a project is important to me and giving it my all. That is how I feel about Go All IN Day. As community members, we need to go all in for our community not only on June 24, but every day of the year.
Obviously, our community has needed us more than ever the past two years. It has been a reminder that every day should be go all in day for our neighbors who need us the most.
Allie Smith
Job at United Way: fundraising coordinator, Team Lilly
Project you participated in during last year's Go All IN Day: mulching at Westminster Neighborhood Services
What did you take away from your experience volunteering during Go All IN Day?
Go All IN Day was the first time I had volunteered in a large group since the beginning of the pandemic and the first time I got to interact with many of my coworkers off a screen.
I was reminded of the power of collective action and how when a few people come together, you can get a lot done quickly!
We mulched the entire playground at Westminster Neighborhood Services and did some landscaping – two tasks that had needed to be done for quite some time, partially for the aesthetics, but mainly for the safety of the kiddos!
At the end of the project, we could visibly see the fruits of our labor. I occasionally drive past Westminster and I’m reminded of how just a few hours of work can make a big difference in a neighborhood.
