TOLEDO—Nearly 700 students, faculty, staff and parents from St. Ursula Academy (SUA) spent April 23 participating in a United Way Day of Caring.

St Ursula Academy volunteers participate in a United Way Day of Caring by cleaning in a Toledo park. (Photo courtesy of St. Ursula Academy)

United Way matched St. Ursula Academy groups with volunteer projects at nonprofit agencies throughout the community. The volunteers spent the day completing a variety of service projects including painting, gardening, helping with spring cleaning and working with people. 

More than 15 organizations benefited from the volunteer work including Toledo Metroparks, The Catholic Club, The Friendly Center, East Toledo Family Center, Grace Community Center, Sunshine Children’s Home, St. James Headstart, Jefferson Headstart and the Cherry Street Mission.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for our students to give back to the community, says Kevin Shannon, director of campus ministry at St. Ursula and coordinator of the SUA Day of Caring. “It is a learning experience which helps them grow spiritually as individuals and also understand how their involvement as a group can make such significant and remarkable changes,” he adds.

“Helping people is always a good day,” agreed Chelsea Pariseau, a senior at St. Ursula. “We painted and cleaned up the yard at the Anne Grady Center, and the residents greatly appreciated our work.  It really made me feel like a better person.”  

Junior Elizabeth Truman and more than 60 others from SUA cleaned the new walking trails at International Park.

“We had fun,” she says. “People who were walking the path stopped to thank us for cleaning up — the fishermen even stopped to thank us.”