The power of community is easy to forget. We can each make a difference on our own, but what happens when over ten thousand of us come together, as a community, to give back and make a difference?

Day of Caring happens, that’s what.

For El Centro de la Raza, a nonprofit organization on Beacon Hill, Day of Caring meant that they were able to get help from 150 volunteers on eight different projects in support of vital fundraising and outreach efforts.

One of those eight projects had six volunteers assembling and painting signs advertising El Centro’s annual Christmas tree sale, which raises funds to support the many amazing programs El Centro de la Raza runs to support thousands of people in the community.

When you think about the impact of one person making several signs, each of which will likely be seen by hundreds if not thousands of people, all leading to direct benefits for El Centro de la Raza… that’s the difference that each individual can have by volunteering.

When you have over ten thousand individuals doing just that, the scale of that giving back is impressive.

That’s what Day of Caring is all about: giving back in a BIG way.

Here are a few more of the many other projects completed during Day of Caring 2019:

• Volunteers from Microsoft spent the morning cleaning and tuning 22 bicycles that will be going to Vision House in Renton. Vision house provides temporary, supportive housing to families who are experiencing homelessness and is thrilled to be able to give these bikes to kids they serve. A lot of conversation that morning was reminiscing about the magical time volunteers had riding their bikes as youth.
• Over three dozen volunteers from Nordstrom helped hang, organize, and tag merchandise in preparation for Seattle Goodwill’s only fundraising event of the year, the Glitter Gala and Fashion Show, which helps fund Goodwill’s free job training and education programs in Seattle.
• Tucked away in a neighborhood in south Bellevue is an heirloom fruit orchard on 3 acres that provides more than half a ton of fresh fruit each season to the HopeLink foodbank in Bellevue. More than 30 volunteers were on hand to clean up fallen apples, clear out garden beds from the ever-persistent blackberries and harvest the apples that were ready.
• In Rainier Beach, 25 volunteers from AT&T cleared ivy and blackberry bushes, preparing ground for new trees to be planted so that the community can have a walkable urban forest for generations to come. The trail between South Beacon Hill and Rainier Beach connects neighbors to the light rail and offers the community a natural area to walk, explore, play and learn.

Check out our photo gallery from the day:

A huge THANK YOU to all the volunteers who came together, as a community, to make a difference!

You can keep the goodness going by volunteering or donating to make an even bigger difference in our community:

Also, a big shout out and thanks to the amazing and wonderful sponsors—Day of Caring 2019 couldn’t have happened without them: