United Way’s ninth annual ‘Day of Service’ with Bossier Parish Schools

Henrietta Wildsmith, Shreveport Times
Updated ·1 min read
Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana's Nichelle Grimes speaks to a crowd of volunteers in front of one of the center's houses on Clay Street Saturday morning, September 30, 2023.
Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana's Nichelle Grimes speaks to a crowd of volunteers in front of one of the center's houses on Clay Street Saturday morning, September 30, 2023.

Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana’s Nichelle Grimes spoke to a crowd of volunteers in front of one of the center’s houses on Clay Street that needed cleaning to prepare it for new ownership. “We provide them a hand up, not a handout,” Grimes told the crowd when explaining that the Fuller’s mission is to provide shelter for all people in need.

It was United Way’s ninth annual "Day of Service" where they partnered with Bossier Parish Schools in a community-based volunteer opportunity.

Benton High School principal Whitney Clark was there with others from the school’s military group, “I just think the goal in education is to help build students that are going to become good citizens and I think to be a good citizen you look beyond yourself. You look for ways that you can help others.”

Benton High School principal Whitney Clark volunteers for the United Way's ninth annual 'Day of Service' at a Fuller Center house on Clay Street Saturday morning, September 30, 2023.
Benton High School principal Whitney Clark volunteers for the United Way's ninth annual 'Day of Service' at a Fuller Center house on Clay Street Saturday morning, September 30, 2023.

This year’s Day of Service helped assist local nonprofits with 12 collection drives and 16 in-person volunteer projects. Last year, 23 volunteer school teams yielded 15 collections drives and completed seven in-person projects. Day of Service 2022 saved local nonprofits $8,000 in labor costs and yielded more than 19,000 essential items from collection drives. Volunteers were at hand to offer help to the Fuller Center for Housing, The Salvation Army and Operation Blessing.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: United Way’s ninth annual ‘Day of Service’ where they partner with Bossier Parish Schools in a community-based volunteer opportunity.