(Photo courtesy of HandsOn Greater Phoenix)
The event is a partnership between three nonprofit organizations: HandsOn Greater Phoenix, the Phoenix Community Alliance and the Downtown Phoenix Partnership. The goal is to bring volunteers, residents and businesses together to fulfill the needs of certain locations in downtown Phoenix.
This year, some projects include Colliers International in Greater Phoenix, a commercial real estate group, working on yard maintenance at the Boys Hope & Girls Hope home; a Wells Fargo group painting the Rosson House Museum; and Arizona Public Service building benches and staining gabion baskets and light posts at the Growhouse.
HandsOn Vice President Chris Helmuth said volunteers are still needed to help with a Barrios Unidos Park project, which includes weeding and painting picnic tables, speed bumps and more. Interested parties can sign up on the HandsOn Greater Phoenix website.
Don Keuth, president of Phoenix Community Alliance, was one of the original members who created the first “A Day for Downtown” event. Keuth said that 13 years ago he and former HandsOn, then Make a Difference, Executive Director Alison Rapping discussed how they should focus on the downtown area. They brought the idea to former Downtown Phoenix Partnership President Brian Kearney, and the three created the concept for the event.
The first event had a couple hundred people working on a neighborhood near Grant Park south of downtown, Helmuth said. Keuth said they mainly painted houses and cleaned yards.
Keuth said participants have ranged from 500 to 1,000 throughout the years. The volunteers consist of school groups, community members and businesses.
“It averages 500 volunteers, they work four hours, this is the 13th year, so that’s 26,000 man-hours of community investment and support,” Keuth said. “That’s the kind of value we have been able to identify. It’s pretty impressive.”
David Roderique, president and CEO of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, has helped out since coming into his current position five years ago. Roderique said the Partnership helps HandsOn coordinate activities by telling groups and organizations about the volunteer opportunities for the event.
The Phoenix Community Alliance also reaches out to its members and asks if they want to help.
Helmuth said HandsOn reaches out to businesses, informs them of the projects and ask if they want to help. These businesses tend to become sponsors and help offset the cost of the event by donating money to buy supplies like paint to do the projects, he said.
Keuth said the total donations average to $50,000 a year to buy supplies for the different projects. These sponsors usually have teams as well that volunteer that day.
Projects are determined by the nonprofit groups reaching out to other organizations and seeing what needs to be done in the community, Keuth said.
“We always try to be aware of needs in Phoenix, and specifically there is a lot of interest in making downtown a more thriving, exciting place to be,” Helmuth said.
Past event projects have included creating community gardens at schools, making Christmas baskets for disadvantaged kids and cleaning up parks. Keuth said the most unusual project he helped out with was restoring and painting a former crack house in a neighborhood because police had to be present.
“That was a real betterment for that neighborhood,” Keuth said.
Keuth, Helmuth and Roderique said they hope participants enjoy seeing the progress they made at the end of the four hours on Saturday.
“For the participants, I hope they get a good sense that they helped the community and have made a better downtown,” Roderique said. “It’s a great event, and I encourage people to come out and participate.”
Contact the reporter at alicia.m.canales@asu.edu
