600 Volunteers Fuel Day of Caring: Hundreds of United Way Volunteers Gave Up a Day for a Much-Needed Makeover at the Broward Children's Center in Pompano Beach
Posted on: Saturday, 27 October 2007, 06:00 CDT
By Jennifer Lebovich, The Miami Herald
Oct. 27--They shoveled mulch and laid sod, scraped old paint and planted shrubs in a driving rain.
About 600 volunteers, including school-age children set free for a teacher planning day, worked together to spruce up the Broward Children's Center in Pompano Beach on Friday for the United Way of Broward County's Day of Caring.
"This is probably 56,000 man-hours in one day," said Thor Barraclough, the executive director of Broward Children's Center Foundation. "It would take us years of grant writing. We simply couldn't do it."
The volunteers fanned out to work in three different buildings that serve infants, children and young adults with chronic medical and developmental problems.
Marcia Cleary, roller in hand, painted a blue sky in one room. Her 14-year-old daughter, Amanda, sponged on the green grass, while others painted cows and sheep on the pastoral mural.
"We don't know anyone here, but everyone works together. We all have one goal," said Cleary of Weston.
The farm scene decorates a wall in the room where children will get medical care.
'It brought a smile to my face, so it should bring a smile to the kids' faces," Amanda said.
Nearby, Richard Wolz worked to plant the garden and dig up weeds, his fingers black with dirt.
"It's been raining all day," said Wolz, 52, senior regional manager at Washington Mutual Bank. "It would have been nice to have sunshine, but I think the rain brought out the best in everyone . . . There's a lot of pride involved when you look at what we've done today."
The United Way, a nonprofit organization that works with donors and volunteers to help the community, raised $12.5 million in Broward last year.
The fresh paint and new landscaping touched Caryle Westervelt, whose 8-year-old son Clifford has lived at the center since February.
A choking accident at age 7 left him with permanent brain damage.
"It means a lot to me to see all these people here," said Westervelt of Royal Palm Beach. "You're in a different world when you have a child like this. To see all these people coming together. If this facility wasn't here, I don't know what I'd do."
Debbie Dechert, a cashier at Publix, brushed pale blue paint along a doorjamb.
"What could be better than helping out these kids?" asked Dechert of Sunrise. "There's nothing better than that."
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Source: The Miami Herald
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