Day of Caring: United Way GenNext event gives time, not money to Thunder Bay charities

The United Way's GenNext cabinet is celebrating its fifth annual Day of Caring Saturday in Thunder Bay.

Over 125 volunteers will roll up their sleeves and get a little dirty as they pitch in to help 12 other charities in the city, says Caitlyn Phirbny, the special events coordinator for the United Way.

"We get individuals involved, not by giving money, but by giving their time," said Phirbny, explaining the agency's GenNext cabinet organizes the event as a way to encourage people under 40 to get involved in volunteering.

"We have individuals in our community who are retiring, and they're currently really strong supporters of United Way, and as they retire, with the baby boomers, we are going to start seeing a decline in supporters if we don't start to actively engage the community at a younger age and get them to be aware of what we do."

Not-for-profit groups in Thunder Bay submit projects for the day, and the United Way provides the labour and many of the supplies.

This year's projects include planting a container garden at the Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre, spring cleaning at the Canadian Hearing Society and painting a programming area and warehouse at the March of Dimes.

Over the past five years, the Day of Caring has become an important way of building relationships between many individuals and groups in Thunder Bay, said Phirbny.

"We do have a limit on how much money we can spread around the community each year, but we can do so much more than that, and that's why the Day of Caring is such a really big cornerpiece to what we do in the year."