By: Jeanne Vaughan, Business Community Laiason
            
            This is the 17th year United Way of Central Virginia has participated in Day of Caring. There were over 1,000 Day of Caring participants who turned out on Wednesday, May 12th, to complete work that area agencies have neither the time or resources to complete themselves.
            We are proud to report that Old Dominion Job Corps students were volunteering at the Untied Way in Lynchburg.  Mr. Steve Eckart, Home Builders Institute Painting Instructor, took his class of 13 students to United Way to clean and prepare all the windows in their building for re-glazing.  The prep work entailed removing the old, deteriorating glaze and caulk and cleaning the area to ready it for glazing.  The students involved in this project were Alden Kendall, Tamara Muskelly, Tyruan Johnson, Montez Burton, Ruben Garcia-Ortiz, Marlon Thweat, Randy Jones, Thomas Emerson, William Mallory, Zachary Mixon, Sibhat Ezra, Darryl Hart and Terrance Gray.
            The students, under Mr. Eckart’s instruction, gained valuable experience in the glazing process as well as the opportunity to give to the community through their work.
            Each student, including the instructor, was given Day of Caring shirts by Central Virginia United Way.
            Mr. Eckart and his students were unable to complete the job in one day. The students asked if they could go back and complete the job.  The United Way was pleased and grateful for this  extra contribution.  It took at least three additional days to complete this project because Mr. Eckart wanted to do a “complete, quality job” by finishing the glazing, caulking around each window frame, priming the new glaze, and then painting the glazed areas. Mr. Eckart and his students  completed the project by May 21, 2010. 
            I am proud to work with a quality instructor and students who eagerly participated in this worthwhile event of giving and caring.