Residents roll up their sleeves

Day of Caring has become a Pike tradition MILFORD — Cloudy skies, cool temperatures and on-and-off sprinkles did not prevent hundreds of volunteers from participating in Saturday’s community-wide Day of Caring and the 9-11 Memorial Blood Drive. Designed to promote the spirit of volunteerism and the notion of giving back to the community, local residents visited various non-profit human services agencies and used old-fashion elbow grease to spruce up, clean out or engage in other hands-on projects as needed. Others went to the Delaware Valley Middle School gym and rolled up their sleeves to donate blood. United Way President Christine Obser was at the blood drive with Claudia Schroeder of The American Red Cross. Obser said a steady stream of blood donors and up to 300 volunteers helped make this year’s event successful. “Youths, adults, many community residents stepped up to the plate,” she said. An added incentive for the blood drive this year was a raffle. The winner of a gas grill, donated by the accounting firm of Myer and Myer, was Sarajo Miller of Sunrise Lake. Raffle prize or not, blood donor Henry Neumann from Matamoras planned on being there. He told The Courier, “I always give blood - especially on 9-11.” Danielle Jordan, Executive Director of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce said the Chamber is a proud sponsor of the event, adding “It is really important that the business community gives back to the local community and one of the best ways to do that is through United Way and donating blood, which can save a lot of lives.” Cathy Capasso of The United Way reports a total of 88 units of blood were donated, pointing out that each unit can save up to five lives. The hard work of the other volunteers was also highly appreciated. Capasso noted the great need this year with an ongoing state budget crisis. “Many human services agencies are lacking funds,” she remarked. Working at the Pike County Public Library was Gail Blau-Kalman who explained, “I live in Pike County, take a lot of pride in my county and I want it to look great”. At Camp Speers-Eljabar in Dingmans Ferry, as many as one hundred volunteers pitched in to do various jobs. Executive Director Cherie Hammond explained “High school volunteers are here through the United Way Day of Caring and Rotarians are here from the Milford-Matamoras Rotary Club and we have folks who were here as kids (as campers) or young adults as staff.”. The bottom line is that hundreds of residents rolled up their sleeves to donate blood or do some “heavy lifting.” If this annual Day of Caring demonstrated anything, it is that people care about their community and want to help….a powerful force in a time of uncertainty and change.