DANBURY, Conn. (June 10, 2019) — Future scientists and engineers were inspired on Wednesday, June 5, 2019, as corporate volunteers from 10 companies and organizations engaged more than 440 Danbury Public School students in interactive, science-based activities on the lawn of the Danbury War Memorial as part of United Way’s 2019 Day of Action.
Additionally, across Greater Danbury and Southern Litchfield County, corporate volunteers from seven companies got out their shovels, rakes, and paint brushes to beautify parks and spruce up nonprofit facilities. A total of 180 volunteers gave their day to either put smiles on the faces of children or lend a hand to improve public or nonprofit spaces.
Students from South Street Elementary School and Rogers Park Middle School walked to the STEM Street Fair, where they got to do everything from learning about the power of levers, to making their own miniature robots and rockets thanks to STEM projects hosted by Belimo, Collins Aerospace, Danbury Library, EverWonder Children’s Museum, Kimberly-Clark, Linde, Microsoft Store - Danbury Fair Mall, New Pond Farm, and Savings Bank of Danbury.
“My teachers cannot stop talking about it, and our students are overjoyed,” said South Street Elementary School Principal Carmen Vargas-Guevara. “The level of engagement, higher level thinking, rigor, applications, discussions, climate, and content were superb. ‘Best day ever,’ ‘I had so much fun,’ and ‘This is so awesome,’ are just a few things that I heard today from students.”
After participating in interactive science activities, the students were able to choose a free book. The books were donated from corporations to promote summer reading—a project United Way calls Camp Wannaread. Each student selected a book from a truck donated by UPS. Students were also treated to a free demonstration and tour of a fire truck by the Danbury Fire Department.
Meanwhile, volunteers from seven corporations were working at sites throughout the region, including: Harrybrooke Park in New Milford; Tarrywile Park in Danbury; the Girl Scout Camp in New Fairfield; the Regional YMCA of Western Connecticut in Brookfield; the Town of New Milford Senior Center; the Children’s Center of New Milford; and Born Learning Trails at Meckauer Park in Bethel and Rogers Park in Danbury.
Launched in 2008, United Way’s Day of Action is an annual event that mobilizes thousands of volunteers to make a meaningful impact in more than 400 communities around the world. United Way of Western Connecticut’s Day of Action could not have been successful without the generous donation of books from Branson, Collins Aerospace, Kimberly-Clark, and Newtown Savings Bank. Volunteers at the kick-off breakfast were treated to a filling breakfast donated by Chick-fil-A in Brookfield and fueled up with coffee donated by Starbucks on North Street in Danbury. Additional food donations were made by Caraluzzi’s Markets and Stew Leonard’s. Special thanks to the Danbury Parks and Recreation Department for their assistance in hosting this event at the Danbury War Memorial.
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