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SubscribeApril is National Volunteer Month. The American Red Cross is teaming up with Mayor Greg Fischer to host a special blood drive during the eighth annual Mayor’s Give A Day Week of Service. The community is invited to take part in the inaugural Mayor’s Give A Day Blood Drive, Wednesday, April 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kentucky International Convention Center, 221 S. 4th St. in Louisville.
Volunteer donors are the only source of blood products for those in need of transfusions, and donating blood is a simple way for those who are short on time to make a lifesaving difference.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the American Red Cross on the inaugural Mayor’s Give A Day Blood Drive on April 17,” said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. “Donating blood is a gift of the heart and a true act of compassion. I encourage our citizens to participate in this drive and throughout the year. You’ll be saving lives.”
The Red Cross is one of many organizations able to provide care and compassion to families in need by mobilizing the power of volunteers and generous donors.
“Community partners play a vital role in maintaining the area blood supply,” said Garry Allison, director of donor recruitment for the River Valley Blood Services Region. “About 80 percent of blood donations made to the Red Cross are through blood drives set up by community organizations, businesses, groups and initiatives such as the Mayor’s Give A Day Week of Service. We appreciate Mayor Fischer’s leadership in encouraging the people of Louisville to give of its time, talent and treasure to foster compassion in helping others.”
Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. Donors of all blood types are needed at the inaugural Mayor’s Give A Day Blood Drive to help meet patient needs this spring. Those who come to donate will be automatically entered for a chance to win a full-size Iron Throne from HBO’s Game of Thrones. Terms and conditions apply and are available at RedCrossBlood.org/HBOGameofThrones.* Additionally, all presenting donors will receive a commemorative Bleed For The Throne poster, while supplies** last.
How to donate blood
Individuals of all blood types – especially type O – are asked to make an appointment to donate blood by downloading the free American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org and entering sponsor code: GiveADay, or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.
Blood and platelet donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass® to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, before arriving at the blood drive. To get started, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App.
Volunteers cleaned neighborhoods, built beds for children and collected canned goods for the hungry. They donated bicycles to refugees, fed the homeless from food trucks and collected inspiring stories and scarves for women facing cancer.
Across Louisville, such projects and deeds during Mayor Greg Fischer’s seventh-annual Give A Day Week of Service amounted to more than 205,000 acts of volunteerism or compassion during the week that ended on April 22. That surpassed last year’s record of about 180,000 volunteers and acts of compassion.
Mayor Fischer, who started Give A Day in 2011 and has since expanded it to eight days that now occur as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival, said the turnout once again showed why Louisville has become known as a compassionate city that seeks to lift up all parts of the community.
“I am beyond grateful to every citizen, school, business and community group who helped make Louisville a better place during Give A Day week,” the Mayor said. “It’s inspiring to see the selfless service put forth by our community growing each year.”
Among the turnout this year: More than 19,000 joined the Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community Wide Cleanups, removing litter and debris from neighborhoods, parks and schools. Dare to Care collected 30,500 pounds of food at local Kroger stores.
And 58,422 JCPS students and teachers – often entire schools and classes – again joined thousands more private and Catholic school students on service projects. WE Day’s walk of compassion drew about 3,250, mostly students who participated in service projects that collected personal care items, comprising nearly 20,000 hours of service.
Meantime, employees at local companies such as GE, Computershare and LG&E spread across the city for projects, joining Louisville Metro Government and local churches. Presbyterian Center USA brought 483 volunteers to assemble thousands of hygiene kits, while the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary sent nearly 500 volunteers on cleanups throughout Louisville.
The annual count is an estimate based on volunteers and groups who reported their work and acts of compassion, such as donated meals and other items. The success of Give A Day would not be possible without the support and coordination of Metro United Way, which matches volunteers with needy projects and organizations through the website, www.mygiveaday.com.
“Our hearts are filled with gratitude for everyone who gave time, talent, and treasure to improve our community this week,” said Theresa Reno-Weber, president and CEO of Metro United Way. “You inspire us to keep fighting each and every day for the education, financial independence and health of every person in the seven counties we serve. We know that, unfortunately, the need in our community does not last for only one week or one month – it’s here all year long. So, we invite you to continue working with us and making change by visiting metrounitedway.org and exploring ways to give, advocate and volunteer. This is how we live united!”
2018 Give A Day week of service — Notable Numbers:
30,500 – Pounds of food donated through Kroger and Dare to Care food drive
19,464 — Brightside volunteers who helped clean up Louisville
58,422 – JCPS students and teachers who participated in service projects
15,000 – Families served by personal hygiene items collected and distributed as part of WE Day
Thousands of Louisvillians will be volunteering and participating in acts of compassion — from neighborhood cleanups to donating canned foods for the hungry – as part of the Mayor’s annual Give A Day Week of Service, which kicks off Saturday.
Give A Day week, which runs April 14-22, has become the city’s annual showcase of compassion and service. Started in 2011 as a one-day call to serve others, it has extended to more than a week. Last year’s Give A Day Week produced a record 180,000 volunteers and acts of compassion. Mayor Greg Fischer said this year’s goal is to top that, with even more volunteers, donations and other good deeds.
Give A Day is also an official Kentucky Derby Festival event, and kicks off the festival season. Companies and organizations of all sizes will have employee teams in action, including Humana, LG&E, Brown-Forman, GE, UPS, Computershare and Coca-Cola Bottling Consolidated. So will churches and community groups. Also participating will be students, who will be doing everything from collecting personal items for donation to cleaning neighborhoods. This year, every student from JCPS, Archdiocese and private schools will have the opportunity to participate in a kindness project.
The Mayor said there are countless ways to participate, such as donating food and personal items to the Ronald McDonald House, helping serve dinner to kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Kentuckiana and even donating a story of cancer survival to Hope Scarves, whose mission is to share scarves, stories and hope with women facing cancer.
“We have made compassion one of our city’s core values, with the aim to lift each other up as a community,” the Mayor said. “The Give A Day Week of Service is the time for Louisville to shine and build on its reputation as one of the most compassionate cities in America.”
The Mayor will start the week visiting a series of projects Saturday, including one of the largest, the Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community Wide Cleanup. It takes place at locations across the city to help make Louisville a greener and cleaner community, by picking up litter and debris from neighborhoods, greenspaces and roadways.
Other weekend events include the annual Build a Bed on Saturday at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, a food truck event for the homeless and an Eastern Cemetery cleanup on Sunday.
Volunteers are still needed for projects of all kinds. To register, go to the website: www.mygiveaday.com and click on “volunteer for an existing project.” In addition, groups and individuals are urged to use the same website to report projects and good deeds they are doing on their own.
“We’re proud to support our community in solving problems through volunteer service all year round,” said Theresa Reno-Weber, president and CEO of Metro United Way. “As a part of that continuous work, we are excited to again serve as the backbone of Mayor’s Give A Day by connecting volunteers to meaningful opportunities to give back and address the needs of our neighbors. Connecting people with the passion, expertise and resources needed to get things done is at the heart of what we do in our fight for the education, financial stability and health of every person in our seven-county region.”
The Mayor will also participate in the student-led WE Day Walk of Compassion through downtown as a Give A Day event on April 17. WE Day Kentucky, in partnership with WLKY, celebrates student service projects and invites the public to join thousands of students in a lunch-time walk, carrying signs of compassion.
“The Mayor’s Give A Day initiative is a great opportunity for our students and staff to make a difference in their schools and community,” said JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio. “I’m proud that 100 percent of our schools will once again be participating in this weeklong initiative – committing more than 1,100 days of service doing everything from cleaning up parks, playgrounds and roadways, to collecting food and toiletries for local food banks and shelters, to recognizing veterans and their families, among dozens of other projects. It says a lot about the culture of our schools and the commitment of our students and staff that they remain so dedicated to making an impact in their city.
Joined by representatives from local organizations and volunteer committees, Mayor Greg Fischer today announced plans for his 2018 Give A Day week of service.
This year’s Give A Day week is set for April 14-22, although the Mayor noted that many projects will be under way earlier, to avoid conflicts with Thunder over Louisville at the end of the week. Give A Day is an official Kentucky Derby Festival event, and kicks off the festival season.
This year’s Give A Day week also leads into the 2018 Festival of Faiths, another volunteer-driven event.
“The people of Louisville give of their time, talent and treasure every single day, which is how we’ve earned recognition as an International Model City of Compassion year after year,” the Mayor said. “The Give A Day week of service is our way to showcase and celebrate all those great efforts in one week. I am so grateful for all those who help make this annual event bigger every year.”
Give a Day started in 2011 as a one-day call to serve others. Last year’s Give A Day Week of Service produced a world-record 180,000 volunteers and acts of compassion. Mayor Fischer said this year’s goal is to top that, with even more volunteers, donations and other good deeds.
The ultimate goal, he said, is to see compassion spread, and he pointed to the OGO JAR project being spearheaded by Global Game Changers Student Empowerment Program in collaboration with Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program. This year, all 130,000+ K-12 students enrolled in JCPS, Archdiocese of Louisville and independent and private schools will be invited to participate in this project, which encourages students and educators to create and sustain a culture of kindness, recognition and gratitude.
Other projects this year include:
- The annual Walk of Compassion, a short, student-led walk through downtown on April 17 that is part of the international WE Day. Downtown workers and others are invited to join more than 4,000 students participating in the lunch-time walk, which is sponsored by WLKY. WE Day is a celebration for our young people in grades 3-12 who have committed themselves to community service. They are already collecting hygiene products to be shared with JCPS’ resource centers and the community. Highland Cleaners has agreed to serve as the drop-off center for citizens wanting to contribute.
- The Build A Bed project, which is a JCPS-AmeriCorps-sponsored effort to build beds for children who otherwise don’t have one. New this year, volunteers will be building about a half dozen bunk beds. With the support of nearly a dozen local companies, including K&I Lumber, this project provides a bed, bedding, books and stuffed animals – some of the basics of a good night’s sleep. The first Build a Bed event in Louisville was hosted by JCPS Office of Community Support Services in 2012 and has grown, with volunteers and agencies setting up events throughout the year.
During a kickoff press conference held today at the Boys and Girls Haven, Mayor Fischer praised community organizations like the YMCA for their leadership, and he specifically called out Metro United Way, which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary, for its unflagging support of Give A Day.
“We’re proud to support our community in solving problems through volunteer service all year round,” said Theresa Reno-Weber, president and CEO of Metro United Way. “As a part of that continuous work, we are excited to again serve as the backbone of Mayor’s Give A Day by connecting volunteers to meaningful opportunities to give back and address the needs of our neighbors. Connecting people with the passion, expertise and resources needed to get things done is at the heart of what we do in our fight for the education, financial stability and health of every person in our seven county region.”
The Mayor also praised the community’s schoolchildren, both public and private, for their support and involvement in Give A Day, noting that they are responsible for a huge percentage of the volunteers and acts of compassion counted every year.
“Last year, we had 100 percent participation from our schools, and our students donated the equivalent of 1,145 days of service – that’s more than two years of service projects in just one day,” said Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio. “We are proud of what our students and staff were able to accomplish and the difference we made in the neighborhoods surrounding our schools. This is a perfect way for us to give back to our community – a community that steps up and supports our students throughout the year.”
“Service and outreach are important components of Catholic schools throughout the year, and schools in the Archdiocese of Louisville look forward to participating in Mayor Fisher’s Give a Day week of service,” said Leisa Schulz, Superintendent of Catholic schools. “Catholic schools will be engaging in activities throughout the community.”
Also today, Mayor Fischer announced the formation of a founding Give A Day Board whose purpose is to sustain and grow the great service and compassion work that has taken place over the past 7 years. Mary Pat Regan will chair this founding board.
Individuals or groups wanting to find a project for Give A Day week are encouraged to visit http://www.mygiveaday.com where projects and needs submitted by local non-profit agencies and other groups are listed. There you can also record your acts of compassion.
The Mayor urged individuals and companies to use the website to report their own community service. “If your church or civic group is doing a project that week, let us know about it so it can count toward our new world record,” he said.
The Brightside and Passport Health Plan Community-Wide Cleanup on April 14 is one of the most popular ways to participate in Give A Day. Every year, thousands help clean up neighborhoods, schools and parks. To learn more:https://louisvilleky.gov/government/brightside/brightside-passport-healt…
Companies and organizations of all sizes also will have employee teams in action, including GE, Computershare, UPS and Ford.
Mayor Fischer said having Give A Day week as the lead-up to the Kentucky Derby Festival helps put Louisville’s caring deeds in the world spotlight. And Festival president and CEO Mike Berry said the timing is perfect.
“With more than 70 events to produce each year, we couldn’t do it without our large network of volunteers,” Berry said. “It’s a real tribute to this community that we have so many people living and working here who are willing to give of themselves to make our city a better and more caring place.”
As part of an annual extravaganza of compassion and service, thousands of Louisvillians will be volunteering in ways large and small during the Mayor’s annual Week of Service, which runs Saturday through April 23.
One of the week’s largest projects will be the Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community Wide Cleanup on Saturday. Already, more than 16,000 people are committed to making Louisville a greener and cleaner community, by picking up litter and debris from neighborhoods, greenspaces and roadways.
And there is still time to register: Go to www.brightsideinc.org. With the help of sponsors Passport Health Plan and the Kentucky Pride Fund, Brightside provides bags and gloves to all participating groups, and T-shirts to the first 5,000 registrants.
Volunteer for Give A Day Projects
Mayor Greg Fischer will kick off this sixth annual Give A Day week with a 9 a.m. stop Saturday at the Build A Bed event at Meyzeek Middle School, where hundreds of volunteers will work in teams to build beds that will go to Jefferson County Public School children who are sleeping on couches, air mattresses or even the floor.
Other Saturday events include a 3 p.m. bicycle giveaway to refugees at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, thanks to volunteers from Pedal Power; and huge community cleanups and picnics in the California, Parkland and Shelby Park neighborhoods. (Similar events are planned in the Smoketown and Shawnee neighborhoods on April 22.)
The Mayor’s goal for the week, which helps launch the 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival, is to break Louisville’s existing “world record” for caring and helping – set in 2016 with more than 175,000 volunteers and acts of compassion.
“When we decided six years ago to start to focus on celebrating and cultivating compassion as one of our city’s core values, the people of Louisville responded, demonstrating over and over again that this is a city where people believe in the value of doing what our great native son Muhammad Ali called ‘the work of the heart,’” the Mayor said. “That work happens every day in this city. Give A Day simply shines a spotlight on it.”
The Mayor pointed out that participating in the Week of Service can be as simple as dropping food into the Dare to Care bins at all area Kroger stores.
And for the second year in a row, the international WE Day will, in partnership with the Mayor’s office and WLKY, hold a short Walk of Compassion through downtown as a Give A Day event on April 18. The public is invited to join more than 3,000 students participating in the lunch-time walk, carrying signs of compassion.
Students from both private and public schools are a huge component of Give A Day. JCPS’ students will be planting trees, collecting items for local food pantries, organizing campus and neighborhood cleanups, writing thank you cards to police and veterans, and collecting teddy bears for police to have in their cruisers when they make runs on cases involving children.
“We are proud to once again have 100 percent participation from our schools in the Mayor’s Give A Day initiative,” said JCPS Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens. “Last year, our students logged more than 1,145 days of service – that’s more than three years of kindness, service and citizenship in just one week. This experience gives our students a chance to give back to our community and participate as citizens in our diverse, shared world.”
Most local Catholic schools are also engaged in projects. St. Stephen Martyr, for example, is making care packages for cancer patients, filling decorated bags with things like hard candy, pocket tissues, hand sanitizer, lip balm and small packages of snacks. And fifth-graders at Holy Trinity will be visiting and playing games with residents of the Masonic Home.
Local businesses are also a huge part of the Week of Service, as companies large and small contribute their time, talent and treasure on projects throughout the community.
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 are urged to use the same website to report projects and good deeds they are doing on their own.
