Berks DA investigating officer-involved shooting in Reading
Sep. 14—Shruti Modi and Saumya Bhatnagar crouched down and with gloved hands pulled at the stubborn weeds in the garden bed.
A few feet away, dozens of screaming kindergartners ran and jumped and played, enjoying their late-morning recess. Those kids, along with the rest of their classmates at Lauer's Park Elementary School in Reading, were the reason Modi and Bhatnagar wore smiles while they worked.
Earlier Wednesday, Modi, Bhatnagar and a group of their co-workers at Penske Truck Leasing had toured the North Second Street elementary school, led by a quartet of eager and chatty fourth-graders. They were amazed by what they saw.
"It was impressive seeing how the school is managing with such little resources," Bhatnagar said.
They marveled at the artwork on the school's walls and at the creative displays used to teach science and math. They inspected with interest the courtyard gardens, the outdoor classrooms and the baseball stadium.
They delighted at the excitement with which their young tour guides spoke about Lauer's Park.
It left the group eager to pitch in, to do whatever they could to help out. And that's exactly what Wednesday was all about.
The group from Penske was among 400 volunteers who visited 40 sites across the county as part of the United Way of Berks County's annual Day of Caring. The event coincided with the kickoff of the organization's annual fundraising campaign, which this year has a goal of $10.5 million.
Volunteers painted a playground mural at the Reading YMCA; they did maintenance projects at the Children's Home of Reading; they helped clean up the grounds at the South Mountain YMCA camp.
At Lauer's Park, the volunteers helped clean up the school's many gardens and two outdoor classrooms.
"It's a beautiful day; it's not raining," Abby Gopal said with a smile as she tended to a garden.
Gopal's husband, Sree, works at Penske, and it's through the company that the couple have found a way to give back to the community. They were excited to take part in Penske's Day of Caring effort, she said.
"We love doing this," said Gopal, an avid gardener. "Reading is small, but there are a lot of opportunities to give back. I'm pretty excited about this."
Dharma Sivasamy, who is a co-chair of Penske's United Way campaign, said the Day of Caring is a very special event.
"It means a lot because it is our community," he said. "It's about people, about helping people. If the community is good, we are good."
Before all the volunteering started Wednesday, United Way held a special campaign kickoff event at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The event was designed to thank the people and businesses in the community that have lent support to the organization and to pump up the crowd of about 250 people for the yeoman's effort of raising $10.5 million over the next 10 weeks.
Scott Rehr, chair of United Way's board, seemed impressed with the turnout and enthusiasm.
"Wow, I feel like this is the place to be today," he said to a loud cheer.
Rehr said the Day of Caring is emblematic of what United Way is all about, and shows why the organization's fundraising effort to support its more-than 80 programs and services is so important. In short, it's all about caring for others in the community.
"It is who we are, it is what we do," he said.
As part of the kickoff event, campaign co-chairs Joe and Dana Hartz announced this year's goal of raising $10.5 million for the United Way. So far, Joe Hartz said, just over $1.7 million has been raised.
"We're off to a good start, we have a long way to go," he said. "But we're confident we'll get there."
