CRESTVIEW — “Real People. Real Results” has been the driving idea behind United Way of Okaloosa & Walton Counties’ 2014 campaign, and it certainly held true on Sept. 18 during the Crestview Day of Caring.
The event began Friday, Sept. 12 with Fort Walton Beach Day of Caring and carried through Sept. 19, with Destin Day of Caring ending the week-long community event.
Day of Caring is a mobilization of volunteers to celebrate the spirit of giving through service by providing a morning of meaningful volunteer opportunities to individuals of the community.
Rachel Neighbors of North Okaloosa Medical Center chaired the Crestview Day of Caring with the North Okaloosa Medical Center cafeteria sponsoring breakfast. Volunteers gathered, after working throughout the community, for a catered lunch from Whataburger hosted by the GFWC Woman’s Club.
Over 109 volunteers from the Crestview community donated their time and efforts to help nine non-profit agencies with nine projects ranging from painting and landscaping to interacting with clients to building awnings over a walkway…all making an immediate and positive impact to the Crestview area.
Crestview Day of Caring volunteers included employees from Beach Community Bank; CCB Community Bank; Coastal Bank and Trust; Community Bank-Coast; Crestview Kiwanis Club; FedEx Ground; Gulf Power Company; InDyne; North Okaloosa Medical Center; Okaloosa Gas District; Payless Shoes; Publix-Crestview; ResortQuest by Wyndham; Sacred Heart Hospital-EC; and Whataburger.
During the 2014 Days of Caring, more than 840 volunteers worked together to help real people accomplish real results throughout Okaloosa & Walton counties, along with event sponsors BBVA Compass; Beach Community Bank; Carr, Riggs & Ingram; CCB Community Bank; City of Destin; City of Fort Walton Beach; Community Bank-Coast; Cox; CHELCO; Eglin Federal Credit Union; FedEx Ground; Florida Transformer; Fort Walton Beach Medical Center; GFWC Woman’s Club; Gulf Power Company; Hancock Bank; Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa; InDyne; Jacobs; Kiwanis Club-Niceville/Valparaiso; McLain’s Family Steakhouse; Newman-Dailey Resorts; Niceville/Valparaiso Rotary Club; North Okaloosa Medical Center; Publix Supermarkets; ResortQuest by Wyndham Vacation Rentals; Rotary Club of Destin; Silver Sands Premium Outlets; Southern Vacation Rentals; Trustmark Bank; Twin Cities Hospital; Whataburger; and White-Wilson Medical Center.
The United Way encouraged the use of a hashtag, #uwdayofcaring, throughout the event on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: United Way organizers call the 21st Annual Days of Caring "a monumental success"