Charlotte companies, volunteers join Live United Day back-to-school prep

Preparing for a new academic year can be tedious for school staff like Nelda Smith, the media specialist at South Charlotte Middle School who oversees all the school’s technology including students’ laptops. But thanks to several volunteers who helped reassign the laptops during Live United Day, Smith was able to get ahead of her back-to-school preparation.

 

“Having just eight volunteers helping today even for an hour saves me one full day of work,” she said. “This means the students will be able to get the laptops in their hands as close to the first day of school as possible.”

 

Live United Day, an annual community-wide volunteerism event, is a partnership between United Way of Central Carolinas, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. This year’s event was presented by TIAA, with projects spread between August 16 and 17 – from setting up classrooms and organizing storage spaces to clearing courtyards and providing light landscaping.

 

“As a volunteer, I feel so thankful to work for a company that supports giving back to the community,” said Gregory Denlea, lead systems analyst at TIAA, who volunteered with colleagues at Governor’s Village STEM Academy. “We all learn from our service to others. In giving, we also receive.”

 

During Live United Day, teams from Charlotte-area companies and organizations give a hand at dozens of area schools with high needs to help prepare campuses and educators for the upcoming academic year. Wells Fargo returned as a second-year sponsor and participating team this year.

 

“We want to show the power of businesses and corporations and their employees working on behalf of the community’s most critical needs,” said Jay Everette, senior community relations manager at Wells Fargo. “Our support at this school today underlined the importance of supporting our students and teachers as they get ready for the new academic year.”

 

Other volunteer teams chipping in across the community during Live United Day included Atrium Health, Novant Health, Bank of America, Octagon, United Way and Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, among others.

 

“We like to give back to the community,” said Robert Bosi, production support executive at Bank of America, who volunteered on the team at First Ward Creative Arts Academy. “This team is like family and we’re out here helping out as best as we can. We work hard, play hard and volunteer hard.”

 

See more scenes from Live United Day by viewing our photo album.

 

Keep up with United Way’s volunteer events and learn how you can get involved.