UNITED WAY’S NINTH ANNUAL DAY OF SERVICE WITH BOSSIER SCHOOLS

(Shreveport, LA) – United Way of Northwest Louisiana (UWNWLA) partnered with Bossier Parish Schools to host a district-wide volunteer day for students, parents, educators, and more. Volunteers comprised 28 teams representing different K-12 Bossier schools that partnered with a nonprofit agency across Bossier and Caddo parishes. The school teams collectively held eight collection drives and completed 14 in-person projects. Bossier Schools saved local nonprofits roughly $35,680 in labor costs based on the average cost of a volunteer hour, and the collection drives yielded more than 4,100 essential items.

Volunteers are the backbone of nonprofit organizations as agencies often do not have the financial resources or manpower to hire outside help to complete everything needed for upkeep. That’s where volunteers come in; this year, approximately 374 volunteers from Bossier Schools participated in community service while learning about civic needs.

Many schools held collection drives to provide agencies with the essential items needed to continue serving our community. Kingston Elementary’s collection drive helped restock the Salvation Army of Northwest Louisiana’s kitchen pantry. The school also collected $1,130 in donations to support the organization’s mission of meeting human needs.

In-person volunteer projects included community or campus cleanups, planting gardens, lawn maintenance, organizing facilities, assembling snack packs, and more. Benton High School and its Military Club were partnered with the Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana this year, helping the organization restore a home that belonged to a veteran before he passed away. The Fuller Center initially helped the veteran acquire the home, but after his passing, his family generously returned the home to the organization to help house another family in need.

“This is a significant day for the Fuller Center because we need a lot of volunteers to help us get these houses back in order so we can be able to put families in it,” said Nichelle Grimes, Fuller Center Executive Administrative Assistant. “Getting the teams together, the volunteers together, coming to these homes, and getting them back in shape is a great help for us because we are a team of three at the current moment. We are just grateful to Benton High School and United Way for coming out, volunteering, and helping us get the house in order.”

“I want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all Bossier Schools’ students, teachers, and staff members who selflessly gave up their Saturday to show love to our community,” said Raavin Evans, UWNWLA Director of Community Impact. “Your labor and donation of essential items is allowing our community’s nonprofits to continue to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those struggling across our region. We absolutely could not do our jobs without your support!”

Once all projects were completed, UWNWLA and Bossier Schools held a wrap-up party for the volunteers, where there was food, face painting, and interactive games to celebrate a successful day of volunteering. The Greenacres Middle School Beta Club was announced as the Spirit Award recipient for showing the most spirit on social media by posting pictures and videos of their team’s project. Meadowview Elementary also took home an award for the largest volunteer school team, and an additional award was given out to the largest volunteer school club or organization team, which went to the Benton High School Baseball Team.

UWNWLA is proud to have partnered with Bossier Parish Schools for another successful year of giving back to our community while teaching the importance of volunteerism to students and staff.

Participating schools and paired nonprofits:

BOSSIER SCHOOL TEAMS                            NONPROFIT AGENCIES                        SERVICE PROJECT

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