Dozens Of Concord Business Volunteers Offer Time During Day Of Caring

CONCORD, NH — Dozens of business volunteers as well as others from in and around the capital region offered their time on Thursday as part of the Granite United Way's Day of Caring.

The event, which has been going on for nearly 30 years, was a bit different due to the coronavirus pandemic. But COVID-19 did not stop employees at Merrimack Savings Bank, Concord Group Insurance, the Nobis Group, the New Hampshire Electric Co-Op, and even some students, too, from helping out.

Martha Dickey, the Merrimack County area director, said the past 18 months have been “challenging for so many of our nonprofit partners,” but the organization felt fortunate to have a strong volunteer base in Merrimack County. She knew the volunteer day would “provide some valuable ‘sweat equity’ for our partners.”

The volunteer day of action began at The Friends Program on Thompson Street in Concord and Live and Let Live Farm in Chichester at 9 a.m., according to Karrie Eaton, the vice president of marketing and communications, and then, shifted to the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness’ North Main Street location at 1 p.m. Teams wrapped up around 4 p.m., she said. Projects included landscaping, painting, and other tasks.

At the homeless shelter, volunteers broke down boxes and organized winter clothes, air filters, coffee donations, and other items in both the basement and main area of the facility. Other items were moved to the org’s location at the First Congregational Church at North Main and Washington streets.

Eaton said more Day of Caring events had been booked around the county during the next week.

“We’ve had a great response from volunteers who were looking for something they could do to help our nonprofit partners while remaining safe during the pandemic,” she added. “We were thrilled to offer this, and look forward to the future when we can expand these offerings even more.”

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