The United Way of Van Wert County and Vantage Career Center held its 25th annual Day of Caring event on Friday, September 29th. This annual event helps replenish food & blood supplies within our community. As always, when there is a need in our county, our local businesses and residents step up to the plate to give, volunteer, and advocate!
Friday morning, the food drive collected over 52,000 items. All donations will be split between the three local food pantries: Salvation Army, Trinity Friend Church, and Van Wert Co-Operative Ministries. The blood drive collected 138 units to replenish local blood bank counts. Every unit collected saves 3 lives. Thank you to Vancrest of Van Wert, Cooper Farms, Vantage Career Center, and local Girl Scout Troops for donations that provided food to the blood donors!
The local schools held food drive events and challenges between classrooms and other county schools. Many thanks go to Vantage Career Center for the use of their facility, to the staff & students for all their work helping sort the food drive items, to and to the many United Way Board Members, First Financial Bank employees, Advanced Insurance Group employees, and other volunteers that help throughout the day! Lunch was provided by Van Wert Pizza Hut and Domino’s Pizza.
Thank you to our other major sponsors for the event:
Advanced Insurance Group
Alliance Automation
ARK Behavioral Health
Braun Industries
Central Insurance
Citizens National Bank
Danfoss
Edward Jones – Eric Hurless
Edward Jones – Veronica Cuevas
First Bank of Berne
First Federal of Van Wert
First Financial Bank
Laudicks Jewelry, LLC
Lee Kinstle Sales & Service
Millwork Brands Inc.
Ohio Health Van Wert
Red Oak- Amber Davis Realtor
Shultz, Huber & Associates
Speed Pro Machine
Statewide Ford
Tenneco
The Marsh Foundation
Tisha Fast State Farm
Van Wert Federal
Van Wert Service Club
Vancrest of Van Wert
Westwood Behavioral Health Center
I am overwhelmed by the amount of community support given each year, with over 200 volunteers that make this event a success. A huge thank you to all of the local schools for collecting such a large amount of items. Lastly, this event would not be possible without the help of Vantage Career Center staff and students. ” – Denise Davis, 2023 United Way Day of Caring Chair.
2024’s Vantage Day of Caring will be under the direction of Anne Dunn.