Volunteers ‘make a difference’ across area

Published 6:41 am Sunday, October 23, 2011

From picking up trash and debris in area creeks to painting a shelter for domestic violence victims, dozens of volunteers from across Whitfield and Murray counties gathered to make the place a little better Saturday.

It was their way of marking Make a Difference Day, a national day in which people give back to their communities that started in the early 1990s.

Make A Difference day came to Whitfield County more than a decade ago, thanks to Dalton’s Robert Webb. He had been talking with officials at the United Way of Northwest Georgia about how to foster community involvement, and they settled on Make a Difference Day as the perfect way to build that community spirit.

“We decided that it would be best to build on an existing national program. Over the years we have had hundreds of volunteers work on dozens of projects,” Webb said Saturday. “It’s very gratifying because it has been a mixture of adults and young people, which is a way of mentoring and passing along those values of giving back to the community. That helps sustain volunteerism. That’s what this day is about.”

Webb was part of a group helping planting flowers and shrubs and helping clean up the gardens at the Creative Arts Guild headquarters on Waugh Street.

“I’ve been picking up burrs from these magnolia trees and pulling weeds and picking mushrooms,” he said.

Melanie Patrick, the advisor for Dalton High School SkillsUSA organization, brought 10 students to help with the gardening.

SkillsUSA is a student leadership organization based on career and technical classes, and Patrick says the group tries to do one community service project a month.

“Today, we have been planting roses and other flowers and pulling up weeds and raking gravel,” she said. “We worked at the Guild last year on Make a Difference Day, and the kids had a really good time and learned a lot about planting and giving back to the community. They couldn’t wait to come back in the spring and see how the flowers looked.”

Student Emma Cuebas said it was her first time taking part in Make a Difference Day.

“It has been a lot of fun,” she said.

Dalton Arborist Kris Thomas was also helping with the gardening, along with a few other city workers.

“We’ve been working with the Guild for a couple of years now, bringing in plants and materials to help connect the sculptures and give definition to the garden,” he said.

On Saturday, they were planting dwarf mondo grass at the garden. Thomas said that type of grass is very decorative and it will grow well in the shade under the trees in the garden.

Meanwhile, several volunteers had gathered at the Northwest Georgia Family Crisis Center to paint the interior offices and pressure wash the exterior of the building.

“We are also cleaning the windows, knocking down any cobwebs and just generally freshening up,” said volunteer coordinator Kim Harrison.

Bob Neuls has been volunteering at the shelter for about six years.

“We’ve had projects like this on many occasions. It’s really great to gather a group of people together and help out,” he said. “But I do a lot of things for them. I do minor repair work, plumbing, electrical and mechanical. I don’t do more complicated things. I don’t do heating and air conditioning. But I do what I am capable of doing.”

Rachel Champion was volunteering at the shelter for the second time Saturday. She says she found out about the Family Crisis Center through her church.

“I go to Second Mile Church, and we are an outreach church,” she said. “The Family Crisis Center serves a vital need, and it really touches my heart to be able to help out.”

Make a Difference Day is sponsored locally by the United Way of Northwest Georgia through a grant by Mohawk Industries.

Among the other activities Saturday were:

• Cleaning fire pits, painting trail signs and clearing trails at Fort Mountain State Park.

• Installing signs and prepping trails at Dalton’s Raisin Woods Mountain Bike Park.

• Building a disc golf course at the Dalton Boys and Girls Clubs.

• Painting and sprucing up the gym at Valley Point Middle School.

• Cleaning up the Conasauga River watershed at several locations.