Making a difference

Faculty, staff and administrators from across UB were busy in Western New York communities Wednesday, with tools that varied from paint brushes to rakes, hedge shears and shovels, all with one thing in common: a desire to lend a helping hand.

About 160 members of the UB community fanned out across the Buffalo area to volunteer in the 20th annual United Way Day of Caring, the largest community service event in Western New York.

Each year Day of Caring draws thousands of volunteers who spend part or all of their day helping member organizations with projects that the organizations lack the funding or resources to tackle. This year’s projects included painting, repairing concrete sidewalks, mowing lawns, washing windows, organizing donations, gardening and landscaping, and even designing and creating brochures and improving an organization’s website.

Volunteers gathered 8 a.m. at the First Niagara Center for breakfast and marching orders before being bussed to their respective work sites around 8:45. UB volunteers assisted a number of different organizations, including Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Community Action Organization of Erie County, Harvest House, Somali Bantu Community Organization of WNY, Inc., Catholic Charities of Buffalo and Concordia Cemetery Association.

“Part of our mission is to serve our community,” said UB President Satish K. Tripathi, who joined UB volunteers at Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. “We want to make sure that we have a positive impact and do our part to support the people of Western New York.”

“Through volunteering, we provide assistance and resources to community agencies and the populations they serve,” said Marsha L. Lewis, dean of the UB School of Nursing and chair of the 2015 Campaign for the Community, who was also among the UB volunteers at the Olmsted Parks. “The generosity of UB faculty, staff and students is remarkable and truly demonstrates how connected we are to our community.

“And, I think equally as important for volunteers working together to help out our surrounding communities, Day of Caring brings us all together in a culture of caring. It is an inspiring example of the difference we can make working together.”

UB volunteers at Cazenovia Park took on the task of helping clear Japanese knotweed, an invasive species of plant that grows over six feet tall, is difficult to eradicate and goes on to overwhelm other garden plants.

“I love to garden, but I’m not usually gardening with plants this size!” said Debbie Schmigiel, a UB Financial Services staffer. “It’s fun to be participating in Day of Caring, and more importantly, this is helping Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy keep our parks looking beautiful, so I am happy to do it.”

Donna Fabry and Molli Oldenburg, both clinical assistant professors in the UB School of Nursing, were also part of the large group of volunteers who arrived at Cazenovia Park in a big blue UB Stampede bus.

“Nursing is all about helping and we do a lot of volunteer work and assisting in the community,” said Fabry.

“I love the outdoors,” added Oldenburg, “so I couldn’t have gotten a better placement. “I grew up in the country and I really believe in what Olmsted is doing, trying to keep our park system beautiful for years to come. I am glad to be a part of that.”

Concordia Cemetery Association was another of the more than one dozen locations where UB volunteers lent a hand. Joe Chaya, a Concordia director, noting that maintenance of the cemetery is entirely unpaid work, said that Day of Caring volunteers were a great help.

“Getting assistance in keeping up the grounds and markers is difficult for us,” Chaya said. “We are happy to see everyone today, and we certainly appreciate their efforts.”

Neil McGillicuddy, who works in the Employee Assistance Program and also at the UB Research Institute on Addictions, spent the morning mowing the lawn at Concordia. “It’s my second year volunteering and you never know where you will be assigned for Day of Caring, but you know you’ll be somewhere where you are needed,” he said.

Other UB staff members volunteered in Buffalo. Jen Seth-Cimini, who works as a gift officer in the Office of Philanthropy in  UB's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, pitched in with a group of three colleagues from the medical school’s development office for a clean-up along Main Street, not far from UB’s South Campus.

“I’ve worked at UB for over four years, but this is my first time doing something for Day of Caring,” Seth-Cimini said.

“Our group did a lot of cleaning up along the sidewalks, weeding a few street gardens and getting rid of trash on Main Street. We were all happy to participate, and our section of the street looked nicer. We got to have a few laughs together as well, which made for a good morning!”