First-ever UWNEMN Week of Action complete

Nearly 40 Iron Rangers volunteered this week in celebration of the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN)’s first-ever “Week of Action.”  The volunteers assisted with 14 projects in Chisholm, Ely, Eveleth, Floodwood, Hibbing, and Virginia from June 17-21.

 

“We are so grateful to all the community members who signed up for Week of Action projects,” said UWNEMN Executive Director Shelley Valentini.  “The value that these volunteers contributed to these nonprofits is just incredible.  By volunteering their time to complete these projects, the nonprofits are able to focus more of their time and effort on providing much needed community programs.  It was a win-win for all involved!”

 

Clad in blue “Give Where You Live” shirts, volunteers helped to pack food bags for the Hibbing Salvation Army food shelf (Monday and Tuesday), set up for the AEOA Senior Carnival in Eveleth (Tuesday), create graphs and charts for Care Partners (Tuesday), build homes with Northern St. Louis County Habitat for Humanity (Tuesday and Thursday), paint the interior of the new Range Transitional Housing home in Chisholm (Tuesday and Thursday), paint the hallway at the Hibbing Salvation Army (Tuesday), repair and paint light displays for Flood Services and Training’s “Christmas in the Campground” display (Wednesday), clean and organize UWNEMN warehouses (Wednesday), clean out and plant a garden at the Arrowhead Center (Thursday), landscape at Ely Community Resource’s office (Thursday), and paint UWNEMN conference and storage rooms (Thursday).

 

Range Transitional Housing (RTH) Executive Director Adam Venne said he is “extremely grateful” for the Week of Action volunteers who were able to get painting done that staff has not had the time to do at the agency’s new Chisholm house.

 

“RTH purchased the Chisholm house a couple months ago to provide emergency housing to families in need,” Venne said. “The house needs some work done inside before we are able to start placing families there, but with limited funds and staff time to accomplish the work, we have struggled to get this place up and running. The United Way Week of Action volunteers provided us with a wonderful jump start to this project.”

 

Volunteers from American Bank of the North, Anthem, ArcelorMittal Minorca, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, the Chisholm Chamber of Commerce, DeCare Dental, Delta Air Lines, ISD 162, ISD 2142, Minnesota Power, and Recover Health participated. Retired volunteers and the Summer Work Outreach Project group from Chisholm also signed up for projects. Several volunteers signed up for multiple projects, and some encouraged friends or family members to join.

 

“A huge thank you goes out to all involved in our first Week of Action,” Valentini said. “We definitely plan on making this an annual event!”