REGION — Are you ready to get out and do something? Feel like helping but tired of doing everything remotely?? Want to find something meaningful to do with your children now that they are out of school? United Way of the Tri-Valley Area is collaborating with the other eight United Ways of Maine to offer a ‘Week of Action’ from June 21 – June 25. This will be a statewide effort to get the community involved and helping! United Way of the Tri-Valley Area has several local in-person opportunities, as well as one Statewide (Zoom) learning opportunity.

To sign up for a volunteer activity, just type volunteer.uwtva.org/aem into your web browser. You will see the details for the seven opportunities you can register for. We would love to have every slot filled! Opportunities are summarized below:

Shhhhh! We are starting early! This really fun, Halloween—focused volunteer activity is on June 19 from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. If you are an avid Halloween fan, you should check out our tombstone making workshop! You will learn the tips and tricks to create beautiful and creative props that will live on in the Halloween Display of Farmington Fright Nights! You also may (or may not) get the inside scoop on our AWESOME Halloween plans for this year…bigger, better, scarier…and going to be so much fun! Remember to visit the link above to sign up, there are limited spots!

**Due to the nature of the equipment required, all children must be accompanied by an adult.

Visit Stone Soup Gardens on June 21 and help prepare the community gardens for the season from 8 -11 a.m., you could be planting, weeding, or doing any other number of gardening activity. Be sure to dress accordingly. Only 10 spots here, so sign up quickly!

Also on June 21, you could help do home repairs with Mission at the Eastward! Located at 583 Fairbanks Road, you could be painting, hammering, building, or cleaning yards for people (groups will be dispatched from this main location). Time for this opportunity spans from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., but you can come when you can and leave when you must…there is no need to stay the whole time! So many of our neighbors need your help to keep their home safe to live in…let’s see how many neighbors we can help!

On June 23, head on back to Stone Soup Gardens and do some trail work on the beautiful community trails. There is a mile loop, a mile and half loop that many in our community are not aware of…this is your chance to check it out while you help widen some areas and clear some brush after the windy winter we’ve had. There are all kinds of fit stations to check out too…as well as a ‘meditation station’ for finding that inner peace! This opportunity will run from 8 -11 a.m., and has a limit of 10 spots. Again, sign up at the link above to secure your spot!

If you’re free on Friday, June 25 and love to build, organize, spend time with seniors or paint, you may want to check out the opportunity for Rural Community Action Ministries, located in Leeds. This opportunity runs from 9:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m., and sounds like a lot of fun (and hard work)! Spots are limited (11) so sign up sooner rather than later!

This opportunity is a virtual one, and more of a learning one. If you are at all interested in learning how to tell stories through video for something you are passionate about (say, your local United Way, hint, hint) then you should attend this Zoom session! It is on June 25 and runs from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and should be very interesting. The registration link will give you the zoom link you need to sign up for the session and get the login.

This final opportunity is one you can create yourself! Take a walk and bring a trash bag…pick up litter around your neighborhood, street, block. We would love to see your progress…email your photos to volunteer@uwtva.org or tag us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/uwtva). We can all do something to help make our community a better place to live!

There are lots of options to choose from and lots of flexibility. There is something for everyone. Many of these opportunities are family-friendly…and what better way to spend the start of Summer than to help out your neighbors, set an example for your kids and make a difference? Additionally, almost all of these volunteer opportunities are outside, which gives everyone plenty of room to physically distance if that makes you more comfortable. We can all do a little to make a BIG difference…you know what they say, “Many hands make light work”…let’s see what OUR impact will be, sign up now!

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