Last week was National Volunteer Week. A short history....National Volunteer Week began in 1974 when President Richard Nixon signed an executive order establishing the week as an annual celebration of volunteering. Since then, every U.S. President has signed a proclamation promoting it.
Conner Prairie couldn’t operate without the help of volunteers. We have more than 375 people who help throughout the year with everything from driving tractors for hayrides during Country Fair and passing out treats during Prairie Tykes, to helping with mailings and greeting guests. Community organizations also support us by encouraging staff to volunteer.
Last Saturday, April 25, Comcast volunteered in a huge way. Comcast Cares Day is a national event for Comcast. Each of their local offices chooses a non-profit entity within their community and sends employees and their families to spend several hours volunteering. This year, they chose Conner Prairie. Approximately 310 people worked 3 hours each, donating a total of 930 hours to Conner Prairie! That’s comparable to the time a part-time person works in a year—now that’s impressive! In addition to volunteering their time, they also donated 40 shovels and 40 rakes.
While they were here, they:
- built a beach for Adventure Camp
- cleared brush and trash from 2 trails
- built a canoe take-out area for Adventure Camp
- cleared the Adventure Camp challenge course, the Amphitheater and Lilly Cabin area
- built 240 feet of Civil War fence
- pulled 50 pounds of garlic mustard weed
- spread 20 yards of mulch
- cleaned a few hundred event chairs
- And filled 400 sandbags that will be used May 5 during balloon inflation day for 1859 Balloon Voyage.
Thanks, Comcast!