OSWEGO – Six homes in the City of Oswego and four others across the county received a touchup yesterday, May 26, thanks to the fifth annual United Way Day of Caring.
Volunteers from Burritt Motors and several other local companies joined together to improve these residences through minor repairs and housework including gardening, painting and other outdoor needs. This is an event that has occurred both nationally and across the globe across different United Way branches, where “thousands of volunteers” work together in the spring, according to Kate Davis Pitsley, the resource development director of the Oswego County United Way.
“[They] try to improve the community, enrich people’s lives, so it’s really a grand project,” Davis Pitsley said.
The Oswego County chapter saw over 100 volunteers this time around, the largest number it has ever had. This was not necessarily a surprise; however, it is quite impressive as COVID-19 impacted the event for most agencies.
“We said in the press release that while a lot of other agencies are doing less this year because of COVID, Rich Burritt, our sponsor with Burritt Motors, really wanted to make this the biggest day we could,” Davis Pitsley said. “Because we are outside, we can abide by COVID restrictions, remain socially distant, so this is the biggest Day of Caring we’ve had.”
Every year, United Way changes the recipients of its Day of Caring. This year, seniors who are not able to do much work outside were helped out, with the Oswego Office of the Aging selecting 10 homes of people that receive its services, according to Davis Pitsley.
“Every year is a little bit different,” Davis Pitsley said. “In other years, we have picked a nonprofit to go to, for instance an Oswego Opportunities group home, we pick one that needs some work done on the outside. This year, we worked with the Office of the Aging … They just picked [10 houses], and we took them all on.”
Burritt Motors employees were a big part of Wednesday’s efforts, contributing to all of the work sites. Other than the six in the City of Oswego, two were in Scriba, one was in the Town of Oswego and the last was in Minetto. One volunteer and team leader, Brandon Abbasi, had his first chance to volunteer during this year’s Day of Caring, finding it to be his responsibility.
“I believe that there is a responsibility to participate in the community as an individual for those that do need us,” Abbasi said. “Not everyone is able to take care of themselves, so those who physically can’t do it or just don’t have the means, I just think it is a good thing for us to take care of each other as [humans].”
More specifically, Abbasi’s crew of four volunteers, which was sent to a home on West Sixth Street, replaced a door on the shed, fixed a railing on the backyard deck and freshened up the garden via weeding and planting new perennials. While the May event was completed on Wednesday, there are still three chances throughout the summer for Oswego County residents to get involved.
“We are doing one in June, one in July and one in August,” Davis Pitsely said. “[Community members] can reach out to United Way to ask us about volunteer opportunities …We’ll be having another [Day of Caring] on June 23 in the Fulton area with two sites.”
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