[April 16, 2018] |
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Thousands of Comcast Employees in Washington Will Help the Homeless on Comcast Cares Day
On April 21, 2018, more than 3,000 Comcast
NBCUniversal employees, along with their families, friends and
community partners, will contribute to 27 different volunteer projects
across Washington state as part of the company's 17th annual Comcast
Cares Day.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180416006544/en/
More than 3,000 Comcast (News - Alert) employees, family and friends will contribute to volunteer projects across Washington state on April 21, 2018. #ComcastCaresDay (Graphic: Business Wire)
Comcast Cares Day is the largest corporate day of service in the United
States, with this year's efforts marking the one millionth volunteer
participant. This year, the company expects more than 100,000 volunteers
to participate at project sites around the world.
More than half of this year's projects in Washington will directly
support those living without shelter or who are in transitional housing.
Comcast volunteers will sort donations at the Everett Food Bank,
construct a portable computer lab at Mary's Place in Seattle, pack
hygiene kits for Spokane's Union Gospel Mission Crisis Shelter for Women
and Children and craft blankets for the Tacoma Rescue Mission, among
other projects across the state.
Why homelessness?
Comcast chose to address the pressing issue of homelessness because it
impacts nearly every community in the state. According to 2017 figures
from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, King County's
homeless population is the third largest in the U.S. Out of an estimated
11,643 homeless people, 47.1 percent are unsheltered, meaning they live
in a vehicle, tent or on the street. This is a 21 percent increase over
2016 figures that is only expected to grow in 2018 due to the rising
cost of living.
Since its inception in 2001, Comcast Cares Day volunteers have
contributed more than 5 million service hours at more than 18,800
projects. Here in Washington, many of this year's Comcast Cares Day
projects are in partnership with local organizations working to meet
these community members' basic needs and help them get back on their
feet.
Comcast employees live and work in the neighborhoods they're serving.
"More than 4,700 employees call Washington home, and giving back to our
own communities means a lot to us," said Amy Lynch, regional vice
president of Comcast's Washington region. "This year, we're particularly
eager to work alongside our community partners to help ensure that
people from all walks have access to the resources, services and
technology that can help improve their quality of life."
One of those community partners is Mary's Place, a Seattle non-profit
providing emergency food, shelter and resources for homeless women,
children and families. In 2016 the organization provided 100,781
overnight stays, and served 222,445 meals to those in need, according to
its annual report.
"Our work at Mary's Place could not happen without the generous
contributions of our corporate partners like Comcast," said Marty
Hartman, executive director of Mary's Place. "Comcast Cares Day is an
especially gratifying event for us, when we get to see hundreds of
Comcast employees roll up their sleeves and help us deliver the services
that hundreds of families count on. Their efforts underscore what an
important part of the community Comcast has become."
Comcast Cares Day is a testament to Comcast NBCUniversal's commitment to
volunteerism in its communities, which has been a major focus of the
company since it was founded more than 50 years ago. From using
technology to enable creativity, to mentoring youth, to beautifying
parks, Comcast employees volunteer on this day, and throughout the year,
to create positive change where they live and work.
On behalf of everyone who volunteers on Comcast Cares Day, the Comcast
Foundation will provide opportunities for grants to its community
non-profit partners across the country. These grants can help local
organizations continue their community-based service missions throughout
the year. To date, the Comcast Foundation has awarded more than $22
million in grants to local non-profit organizations who have served as
partners on Comcast Cares Day.
Comcast Cares Day Projects | Washington State | 2018
Aberdeen (News - Alert)
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Central Park Elementary School: Volunteers will work with
Central Park Elemetary students and local Eagle Scouts to help build
a garden where students can grow plants as part of their science
curriculum. Volunteers will also help with painting, landscaping and
other beautification around the campus as a prep for the school's
upcoming Grandparents' Day event.
Auburn
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Nexus Youth & Families: Volunteers will help support local
families and youth through a wide array of projects. Volunteers will
help spread bark, clean out flower beds and beautify the outdoor area
surrounding the facility. Others will work on clearing out or
reorganizing various buildings for future use, including the Arcadia
House - a facility designed to support local homeless youth.
Volunteers will also organize and package food, clothing and hygiene
packets for the homeless, while other groups will help cook and
prepare meals that will later be used to feed the homeless. Finally, a
group of volunteers will help accept donated food, hygiene products
and gently used teen and young adult clothing.
Bellingham
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Little Squalicum Park: Volunteers will help Bellingham Parks
with the restoration of Little Squalicum Park. Teams of volunteers
will work to improve habitat and water quality in Little Squalicum
Creek by removing invasive plants, planting natives and mulching.
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Light House Mission: Volunteers will create hygiene kits for
the men's shelter by filling Xfinity shoe bags with items such as new
underwear and socks, deodorant and soap.
Bremerton
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Bremerton Foodline: Volunteers will help with landscaping and
beautification of the grounds surrounding the Bremerton Foodline, a
service that helps provide food to families in need in Kitsap County.
Groups will clean planter boxes that are used to grow vegetables,
prune trees, and perform other general landscaping of the grounds.
Comcast employees will also be holding a Comcast employee food drive
for the organization as well.
Everett
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Interfaith Association of NW Washington Shelter: Volunteers
will help make the Interfaith Association shelter a comfortable space
for those who are working to get back on their feet. Volunteers will
clean, organize and paint the common areas, while others will work on
general landscaping of the grounds and the vegetable gardens.
Volunteers will also help renovate the children's outdoor areas.
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City of Everett Parks Department: Volunteers from the Everett
area will partner with the City of Everett Parks Department to clean
up Lowell Riverfront Trail. Volunteer groups will pick up trash,
remove invasive species, clear overgrowth, and plant native species
along the trail, which runs along the Snohomish River.
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Everett Food Bank: Volunteers will help sort and pack food for
those in need in the area, including individuals from working
households, families on unemployment, or those on fixed incomes who
struggle to make ends meet.
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Farmer Frog: Volunteers will help the organization in its
mission to cultivate community gardening and education programs. Teams
of volunteers will work on the Aquaponics plumbing systems used at
local schools, organize pallet boxes for new areas at the farm, help
construct shelving, build trails for the newly opened forest area,
plant and pot native fruit trees, seeds, and other fruit plants, and
more.
Kirkland
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Friends of Youth: Volunteers will beautify and revitalize the
main campus and housing area at Friends of Youth, which provides
emergency shelter, transitional housing and programs to help homeless
youth get the resources and skills they need to attain personal growth
and success. Volunteer groups will weed and landscape the grounds,
clean the inside of the facility, and help sort and organize donations
to help enhance the living facilities for the homeless youth that
utilize these services.
Lynnwood
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Operation Gratitude: Volunteers will support Operation
Gratitude's mission to lift spirits and meet the evolving needs of the
U.S. Military and First Responder communities. Volunteers will work to
complete hundreds of personal letters of appreciation and colorful
drawings to include in care packages that will be sent to deployed
troops, veterans, new recruits and first responders.
Olympia
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YWCA of Olympia: Volunteers will update and refresh Kathleen's
Clubhouse, a gathering space used for the YWCA's Girls Without Limits,
Youth Advisory Board, and Women's Economic Empowerment Programs.
Volunteers will paint, repair, clean and re-organize the space for
better use.
Puyallup
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City of Puyallup: Volunteers will collaborate with the City of
Puyallup and local Boy Scout Troop 274 to help clean up, beautify and
revitalize the area along 112th Street in the South Hill neighborhood
in Puyallup. As part of the effort, the group will spread bark and
plant more than 70 trees.
Seattle
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Mary's Place & United Way of King County: Volunteers will
help support Mary's Place's mission of providing food, shelter and
resources for homeless women, children and families. Groups will
participate in projects ranging from interior and exterior painting,
parking lot beatification, landscaping and community garden creation,
renovation of the Kids Club, construction of a portable computer lab,
WiFi (News - Alert) installation, building welcome home and new mom kits, and sorting
donations.
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El Centro de la Raza: Volunteers will be partnering with El
Centro de la Raza to care for two of their transitional housing
properties. Groups will be painting fences, doing general yard work
and adding small touches of home for these families.
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Food Lifeline: Volunteers will work with Food Lifeline staff to
sort and repack thousands of pounds of food the organization rescues
from waste.
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YouthCare: Groups of volunteers will serve meals at YouthCare's
Orion Center to help youth on the street that cannot afford a hot
meal. Additionally, other groups of volunteers will help clean
bathrooms, showers and common areas and will also plant flowers, lay
mulch and bark around flowerbeds and trees at one of the YouthCare
centers.
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Asian Counseling & Referral Service Food Bank: Volunteers
will help set up and prepare containers and bags of food items for the
Asian Counseling & Referral Service Food Bank. Other volunteer groups
will help distribute food at their food bank in Seattle's Chinatown
International District.
Spokane
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Union Gospel Mission: Volunteers will put together toiletry
bags for the Union Gospel Mission's Crisis Shelter for Women and
Children. After the project, volunteers and local families will watch
a movie and eat pizza at the facility.
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Centennial Trail: Volunteers will work with the Friends of the
Centennial Trail to clean up the Spokane River Centennial Trail,
adjacent parklands and connecting trails.
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Second Harvest: Volunteers will sort and pack food at the
Second Harvest warehouse to help support their mission to feed people
in need.
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Spokane House: Volunteers will work to improve Spokane House, a
historic fur-trade-era trading post and the earliest permanent
non-Indian settlement in Washington state. Volunteers will meet at
this historic location to paint, mow the grounds, and clean up winter
debris.
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291 Boat Launch: Volunteers will meet at the 291 Boat launch, a
25-mile reservoir located on Lake Spokane, to help remove debris and
overgrowth from several trails leading from the launch area. Others
will help paint the restrooms and repair a central bulletin board and
other nearby signage.
Tacoma
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Humane Society: Volunteers will help improve the Tacoma Humane
Society's dog run areas and will help lay new bark, plant flowers and
remove invasive species.
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Tacoma Rescue Mission: Volunteers will help make no-sew
blankets and 500 essential care and hygiene kits to donate to the
Tacoma Rescue Mission.
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MetroParks Tacoma--Titlow Park: Volunteers will help weed,
remove invasive species, repair gravel trails and picnic tables, and
clean the beach, among other general cleanup and maintenance at Titlow
Park.
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MetroParks Tacoma--Swan Creek: Volunteers will work with
MetroParks to revitalize the bike trail of Swan Creek on the East Side
of Tacoma and clear blackberry bushes, scotch broom and other invasive
species.
About the Comcast Foundation
Founded in 1999, the Comcast Foundation provides charitable support to
qualified nonprofit organizations. The Foundation has three community
investment priorities-expanding digital literacy, promoting community
service, and building tomorrow's leaders-all programs intended to have a
positive, sustainable impact on the community. Since its inception, the
Comcast Foundation has donated more than $195 million nationwide. www.comcast.com/community
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) is a global media and technology company
with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast
Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and
phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and
also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates news,
entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast
networks, television production operations, television station groups,
Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. www.comcastcorporation.com
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180416006544/en/
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