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‘A rewarding experience': Volunteers take part in annual Day of Caring
Volunteers took part in the United Way Elgin Middlesex's 24th annual Day of Caring on June 19, 2025. (Lauren Stallone/CTV News London)
Hundreds of volunteers from local businesses joined together for the 24th annual 'Day of Caring' event taking place across London, Elgin County, and Middlesex County.
The event, hosted by United Way Elgin Middlesex, aims at providing volunteers deeper insight into important work being done in the community.
'It's an opportunity for workplaces and corporations to come together and go out to united way funded partners and roll up their sleeves and do a little bit of hard work,' said Kelly Ziegner, president and CEO of United Way Elgin Middlesex.
Volunteers were sent out to 23 different agencies and participated in activities such as 'garden cleanup' and 'hosting community barbeques.'
Organizers said participating in the day is a 'great opportunity' for volunteers to gain a deeper insight into the work being done by United Way's Funded Programs.
'It's great for our workplaces and corporations that are involved because their employees get to work together on something a little different than their desk jobs,' said Ziegner.
Jordan Moat with Libro Credit Union, one of the organizations that sponsored and participated in the event, said he enjoys 'sharing such a rewarding experience' with his staff.
'It's a feel-good moment, right?' said Moat. 'They enjoy rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty and feel connected to the community.'
One of the projects included in the day was 'Type Diabeat-it' a non-profit organization focused on ensuring Canadians with diabetes have access to quality produce and increase their consumption of vegetables.
'This is Harvest Haven, this is one of our many projects,' said Gonzalo Gomez-Daza, operations manager for Type Diabeat-it. 'It's a one-and-a-half-acre lot, here we grow food that goes back to the community for free.'
The non-profit said they were thankful to have so many volunteers come out and show their support.
'Being able to bring all these volunteers here means that lots of work, probably about a couple months worth of work will be done in about a day,' said Gomez-Daza
