Louisville Mayor, Volunteers Set To Launch Annual Week Of Service

Louisville, Ky. – Volunteers will help distribute toys and other items to needy children. Abandoned homes will be rebuilt for deserving families. Elementary students will hold a read-a-thon to fight child abuse and volunteers will build “Little Libraries” to place in West Louisville neighborhoods. Those and hundreds of other projects and work will happen during the fourth annual Give A Day week of community service, April 18-26, which begins the day of Thunder Over Louisville and helps launch the 2015 Kentucky Derby Festival.

Volunteers can still sign up for projects.

MWEEK2015Mayor Greg Fischer’s goal for the week is to break Louisville’s existing “world record” for caring and helping – with at least 165,000 volunteers and acts of compassion.

The week will start with a gigantic cleaning and brightening of the city, when more than 11,000 volunteers of all ages will join Brightside in picking up litter and debris in hundreds of neighborhoods, schools and parks Sat., April 18.

Volunteers are still needed for more than 100 projects of all kinds. To register, go to the website: www.mygiveaday.com and click on “volunteer for an existing project”. Groups and individuals can use the same website to report projects and good deeds they do on their own.

For those who can’t volunteer time, many giving opportunities are available including:

Providing a stuffed animal to the Bears on Patrol program at Kosair Charities so kids will have a special friend in times of violence, fire or other crisis. Stuffed animals can be dropped off at all Comfy Cow locations;
Donating a new or used bicycle to the Pedal Power Project, providing basic transportation for refugees in Louisville who’ve fled war, famine and other calamities. Bikes can be taken to Beargrass Christian Church, 4100 Shelbyville Rd., or call 502-896-1161; Donating shoes to WaterStep at locations throughout the city. The shoes help fund clean drinking water around the world; Dropping cans of food into Dare to Care bins at local Kroger stores.Mayor Give A Day 2014

A special Give A Day eve concert on April 17 will raise funds for projects and encourage volunteers. Alex Wright & The Maven Down, Thirty Spokes and D’Arkestra will perform along with an art auction. 8 p.m. in the Mayor’s Gallery, Louisville Metro Hall, 527 W. Jefferson St. It’s a free, ticketless event, but donations are suggested.
NOTE: the following is a partial list of Give A Day projects for planning purposes including contact information. Projects that Mayor Fischer is scheduled to visit or participate in are noted. We will also provide daily advisories on projects you might want to cover.

Here’s a partial list of Give A Day week of service projects:

April 18, (Mayor Fischer) — Passport Health/Brightside Community-Wide Cleanup. More than 11,000 volunteers are expected to be picking up litter and debris. Mayor Fischer will join two large volunteer groups: 9 a.m. — Shelby Park Neighborhood Association. Shelby Park Community Center. 600 E Oak St. Contact: Lorri Roberts, 528-0084. 9:45 a.m. — Noe Middle School & Beta Club students. Noe Middle, 2nd & Lee St. Contact: Lorri Roberts, 528-0084.

April 18, 11 a.m. (Mayor Fischer) – “Steam Exchange” Building Transformation in Smoketown. Volunteers from Louisville YouthBuild and other groups will help do the beginning work to turn an old liquor store building into a new community arts center. 714 S. Clay St. Contact: Caitlin Kannapell, 608-2115.

April 19, 9:30 a.m. (Mayor Fischer) – Thunder Over Louisville cleanup. Mayor Fischer will join volunteers from various groups to help finish cleaning up from Thunder. Waterfront Park. Contact: Aimee Boyd, 741-7442.

April 19, 2 p.m. (Mayor Fischer) – Holiday of Hope. Volunteers will join the Kids Wish Network and JCPS in providing toys and school-related supplies to thousands of school-age children. TARC Union Station, 10th & Broadway. Contact: Margaret Brosko, 618-7124.

April 19, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. – Stuffed Animal Drive for Kosair Charities at Comfy Cow during Cyclouvia. People participating in the open street Cyclouvia event on Frankfort Ave. can drop off stuffed animals at the Comfy Cow at 2221 Frankfort Ave. Kosair Charities and its “Bears on Patrol” program provides the stuffed animals to police, EMS, sheriff’s office and others to place in their vehicles for children who are in accidents, fires violence or other crisis situations. Contact: Fran Berg, 821-0178.

April 20, 10:45 a.m. (Mayor Fischer) – Volunteers serve lunch at Franciscan Kitchen. Volunteers will be serving hot meals to those in need. The kitchen feeds hundreds of people daily. 748 S. Preston St. Contact: Chuck Mattingly, 643-8400.

April 21, 9 a.m. (Mayor Fischer) – Real Men Read Day, organized by Jefferson County Public Schools. Mayor Fischer will read to fifth-grade students at Field Elementary School, 120 Sacred Heart Lane. Contact: Deborah Rivera, Field Principal, 485-8252.

April 21, 2:30 p.m. (Mayor Fischer) – Supplies Over Seas. Volunteers from Catalyst Learning and Sister Cities of Louisville will help sort and package medical supplies and equipment to send to needy countries. 1500 Arlington Ave. 40206. Contact: Melissa Mershon 262-5284.
April 21, 3:30p.m. (Mayor Fischer) – Yum! Brands/ Newburg Boys & Girls Club. Boys and girls of all ages will have a Yum! Brands CANStand Day to collect canned goods and cash donations to help feed hungry families through Dare to Care. Contact: Caroline Knop, 721-8636.

April 22, 10:30 a.m. – Volunteers of America campus makeover. More than 100 volunteers from Walgreens, Brown-Forman and GE will help transform the Clinical Campus for Addiction Recovery Services. 1436 S. Shelby St. Contact: Tabitha Hodges, 794-6961.

April TBD, — Fuller Center for Housing. Volunteers from the Building Institute Young Professionals will be working to renovate a home for a needy family that has put its own “sweat equity” into the home. The Fuller Center takes abandoned and boarded-up properties and turns them into usable homes. Fuller Center volunteers are working on four homes during GAD week. Contact: Steve Marrilla, 693-2216.

April 23, 9 a.m. – Noon – Supplies Over Seas. 40 volunteers from U of L GEMS (Guaranteed Entrance to Medical School) will help sort and package medical supplies and equipment to send to needy countries. GEMS students are bright high school seniors who qualify for this program and receive auto entrance to med school. 1500 Arlington Ave. 40206. Contact: Melissa Mershon 262-5284.

April 23, 10:15 a.m. – Greenwood Elementary Read-a-thon to fight child abuse. More than 200 students will read for pledges of donations to support the exploited Children’s Help Organization (ECHO). Students will read “The Giving Tree.” 5801 Greenwood Rd. Contact: Dylan Owens, 485-8260.

April 24, 10 a.m. — Wayside Christian Mission/new building finish. About 300 Volunteers from the GE Technology Dept. will help put the finishing touches on the new addition to Wayside (Built to replace a section demolished to make way for the Bridges Project). 432 E. Jefferson St. Contact: Nina Moseley, 664-7112 or Pam Evans, 609-2575.

April 24, 11 a.m. — Habitat for Humanity. Volunteers including a team from Humana will be setting rafters and building the roof on a new home for an immigrant family. 4527 Hazelwood Ave. Contact: Rob Locke, 664-4983.

April 25, 1 p.m. (Mayor Fischer) – Shawnee neighborhood cleanup. More than 200 volunteers organized by Brightside and New Breed Church will clean up a large area around 41st & Market. Contact: Ebony O’Rea, 819-3956.

April 25, 2 p.m. (Mayor Fischer) – Pedal Power Project. A large collection of donated bicycles for use by refugees who have fled to Louisville will be delivered to Kentucky Refugee Ministries. 969 Cherokee Rd. Contact: Margaret Brosko, 618-7124.

April 25, 3 p.m. (Mayor Fischer) — Little Free Libraries. Volunteers organized by Metro United Way will help assemble and paint 25 small libraries that will contain free books that will be set up throughout the California and Park Hill neighborhoods. California Community Center, 1600 W. St Catherine. Contact: Mary Grissom, 689-7598.