Scott Stadium isn't the only place around Grounds hosting a Sea of Orange. Charlottesville's annual United Way Day of Caring, a day of organized volunteerism and community service, took place Sept. 21. Its success was seen through the increased turnout in orange-shirt-clad volunteers, as 805 University of Virginia employees participated in the event.
"It was really neat to see the kick-off event," Director of Community Relations Ida Lee Wooten said. "There was literally a Sea of Orange volunteers with U.Va. employees clad in orange T-shirts and committed to helping the community. It really showed the breadth of community that resides within the U.Va. workforce."
Throughout the day, the volunteers worked both indoors and outdoors, impacting people of all ages. Various landscaping projects were completed, games of Bingo and dances were run for senior residents and many volunteers visited elementary and middle schools to spend time with students.
"I went to a sixth grade classroom and spoke about how reading is important in education and in our professional lives," Darden Research Assistant Keith Crawford said. "I shared about the types of books I read at their age, books that have influenced my life and the importance of written communication, especially with the new technology we have now in e-mail."
The time and effort spent by University employees made a financial impact on the non-profit organizations that ran the projects.
Ten men from the University working for the Charlottesville Nature Conservancy "worked very hard and were so energetic that the whole thing was done in two-and-a-half hours," Nature Conservancy employee Paul Drymalski said. "We're a non-profit organization, so being able to save money through these volunteers allows us to put the money to our goal of saving the land to protect animals and plants that are endangered."
The Nature Conservancy aimed to reflect the natural and moved the more ornamental plants out of the native garden, according to Drymalski.
The work done at the various landscaping locations around town is a physical testament to the impact of University volunteers.
Wood expects the accomplishments of the volunteers who dedicated their time and energy to the community will continue to make an impact on Charlottesville.
"Our hope is that people will have a great time and want to continue volunteering throughout the year, and that this would act as a catalyst for volunteerism for the rest of the year," Wood said.
Wooten noted the 100-unit participation was an increase from last year's event.
"This year marked a 19 percent increase from the number of employees that participated last year," she said.
United Way begins the planning for this day early in the year, accepting applications from area schools as early as March and April and from non-profit organizations in June and July. At the same time, volunteer teams from the University and the Charlottesville community are given the opportunity to register for the numerous service projects that United Way selects through the application process.
"This year we had over 1,800 volunteers total," United Way Volunteer Center Director Shaele Wood said. "We took care of over 200 projects at 100 agencies and schools. This was a dramatic increase from last year's 160 projects. We really accomplished a lot more, and everyone's involvement really showed the power of volunteerism."
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