PHOTOS: Pitt Volunteers for Day of Caring
Ninety Pitt staff members volunteered at 13 community agencies and outdoor sites in Oakland and surrounding neighborhoods for the annual Pitt Day of Caring on Oct. 6, which kicked off the Pitt United Way campaign.
“All of our sites are always appreciative of what we do,” said John Wilds, assistant vice chancellor for community relations in the Office of Community and Governmental Relations (CGR), which oversees the event, which is one of the area’s largest community service projects.
Wilds praised Pitt participants for “volunteering their time in these facilities to provide service to our community partners — providing things they don’t have time to do.”
Many of the volunteers return year after year for the Day of Caring, reported CGR intern Kevin Zedack, who organized this year’s event. “They really believe in their mission, and the connection our community partners create with our volunteers is really valuable,” Zedack said.
“The relationships they establish with the community partner leads to more days of volunteering,” Wilds added.
Community Human Services Food Pantry
Some volunteers assisted during a food pantry distribution where they helped provide fresh produce, dairy products and canned good items to persons living within the Oakland/Pittsburgh community. Others helped carry food to clients’ cars and assisted in other operations for the pantry that day.
Pitt volunteers are checking fruit and making sure the packages only have fresh, quality items.
Karen Geragi, who works in the Pitt University Registrar’s office, helped with food pantry distribution.
Amy Service, from the Chancellor’s Office, sorting tomatoes: “It’s important as Pitt employees that we support the community, so it’s important to come out today. It’s good for us as employees to see what’s happening in the community we come to work in each day.” Why this project? “The lack of food is an important problem in this community that people don’t realize. There’s a lot of people struggling to find meals.”
People’s Oakland
Volunteers pitched in at People’s Oakland by power-washing an outdoor deck and furniture, cleaning and planting gardens in front of the building, cleaning and painting indoor common areas and a lobby, and picking up in the parking lot.
Kenny Doty, online learning and technology services lead at the Swanson School of Engineering, spent time on Friday at People’s Oakland. “I just found out what this place does — they try to help keep people in programs, people with mental health issues. A lot of people don’t have the support function in their lives,” Doty said. “I think it’s a great thing being able to help them [People’s Oakland] so they can fulfill their mission.”
Lindsay Rodzwicz, Coulter Translational Research Partners II Program manager in the Swanson School of Engineering Department of Bioengineering and a member of University of Pittsburgh Staff Council, helps out by cleaning equipment in the wellness center. “I think it’s a great opportunity for Pitt to be involved in a hands-on way with the local community,” said Rodzwicz.
Kim Getz, director of information technology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, said that this is her fourth year doing Day of Caring. “I enjoy it — I get out and help people; I feel like I accomplished a lot in one day. I mean: Look!” Getz gestured at her paint job on the ceiling of a room, one of many places for families of patients being treated at local hospitals. Vincent Johnson, director of administration at the law school, said, “I’ve been doing this since 2003. It’s important to me to give back to the community. I find it valuable to do community service.” Why this particular project? “Because it was in my skill set,” he said, laughing.
Oakland Planning and Development Corporation
Pitt volunteers spent time weeding, planting, mulching and painting at the play yard and front yard at 141 Robinson St., a low-income apartment facility owned and operated by Oakland Planning and Development Corporation.
“This is giving back to the community — this is what we do. This is part of our service,” said Officer Guy Johnson, community relations officer with the University of Pittsburgh Police Department.
Three staff members from the University of Pittsburgh Police Department cleaned the driveway of overgrown weeds and debris at 141 Robinson Street. From left are Steve Cetra, police officer; Kathy Gaus, detective; and Guy Johnson, community relations officer. “It just gets you out in the community in a different capacity and I get to work with other departments of the University – that’s always nice,” said Cetra. It’s his fourth year participating in Day of Caring. “It gets me out of the office,” Gaus said of the chance to “meet the community, work with the community, not in a bad moment — more of a positive moment.”
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