Unity Health ‘Expands’ Day/Community of Caring to Year of Care, Kicking Off in September | New

“With this expansion, we’re going to have a kickoff in September,” Skinner said. “So what we’re doing is expanding Community of Caring to include ‘Caring Drives’ throughout Searcy throughout the year.”

She said businesses, churches, organizations and groups could get involved by organizing a charity drive and/or volunteer day to directly benefit Searcy nonprofit organizations that help meet the basic needs of people. others throughout the year.

Skinner said the idea is that community members can organize these Caring Drives throughout the year. “We know people do things around Christmas and Thanksgiving. These Days of Caring and Days of Volunteering will be directly tied to our non-profit organizations here in town and they will benefit the organizations. »

She said that after the COVID-19 pandemic “forced us to adjust the past two years from a caring day to a caring community drive-thru event…we looked very carefully at this what we were doing.

“Our focus at Unity Health has always been to meet the physical and mental needs of our community members and that’s what our employees are passionate about,” Skinner said, “but we also recognized that for people to have their needs physical and mental health they need to meet their basic needs for food, shelter and security, so that they can then meet their physical and mental health needs.

“That’s always been our goal with A Day of Caring and so this year we’re expanding it even more because nonprofits serve people who have those needs year-round. We started looking and Searcy has very good organizations that meet the basic needs of others all year round and the most important thing is that they cannot do everything alone.

Skinner said nonprofits have “seen an increase in people and need, so if we can partner with them throughout the year and organize Caring Drives by businesses, churches and groups throughout the year, we help meet the needs of the community. .”

Skinner said she has been in contact with the nonprofit organizations that help meet the basic needs of community members. Searcy nonprofits that do so can contact Unity Health’s marketing department via email at [email protected] for more information about Caring Drives.

Skinner said nonprofits have very specific needs that include things like diapers and wipes for babies and children in shelters and foster homes, underwear and feminine products for women. in safe havens and shelters, sleeping bags, pillows and tents for the homeless, non-perishable food for area food banks serving the hungry, personal care items, paper products, cleaning supplies for families struggling to pay bills, shoes and socks for homeless children and families, monetary donations, volunteers and more.

For those who wish to participate, they can:

Choose a nonprofit organization and select items to collect from the Community of Caring Drive.

Plan a fundraising campaign and/or volunteer day in September for a non-profit organization that serves the needs of people in our community.

Contact Unity Health’s marketing office to be included in the advertisement and receive a planning package that includes a “We are a Caring Community” yard sign, personalized flyers, media recognition, an order form for t-shirts and an event summary form.

Organize a fundraising campaign and/or volunteer day to kick off September.

Deliver the collected items to the particular nonprofit organization. Complete the event summary form online or by email and send it to [email protected] so that the participating group can be recognized in the media.

Previous sponsors and donors are invited to join as Community of Caring partners at the expanded event to continue the mission of meeting the needs of others by collecting items and volunteering for nonprofit organizations during from the September launch. Companies are also encouraged to pursue Caring Drives throughout the year.

Businesses can also contribute to the A Day of Caring/Community of Caring fund, which will be used 100% for the needs of area nonprofits. Checks can be made payable to “A Day of Caring” and mailed to Unity Health, Attn: Marketing, 1200 S. Main St. Searcy, AR 72143.