On September 16 students from the Worcester YouthBuild and ACHIEVE! programs participated in the United Way’s annual Day of Caring. During the community-wide event nearly 1,100 volunteers from 65 local companies, unions, and schools assisted 70 non-profit agencies with a wide variety of group projects.

ACHIEVE! students spent the morning at the YouthGrow Community Farm on Oread Street along with volunteers from Davis Publications. The garden is operated by the Regional Environmental Council of Central Massachusetts which provides fresh, organic vegetables to local food pantries and families in need.

Their first project of the day involved using pitchforks to turn the compost pile – where they found three snakes! Later they went on to pick tomatoes and perform other garden maintenance tasks.

Two groups of YouthBuild students wielded paintbrushes and rollers. The first group painted a hallway and bathroom at AIDS Project Worcester on Green Street. The bathroom project involved painting “Barney” purple walls a light beige color. This took several coats of primer and topcoat. The students completed the project with an attitude of doing however many coats it took for the job to look good.

The second group painted the Boys and Girls Club GED computer room at the Plumley Village East on Laurel Street. “They were prepared for us and were very nice,” said YouthBuild Instructor Jesse Scott of the staff at Plumley Village.

The Day of Caring was the first experience for the new YouthBuild class to work together as a group, a taste of what’s to come. It was a positive experience where they helped other organizations and felt they had something to contribute. They also learned about other resources in the community.