UTICA, N.Y. -- United Way of the Mohawk Valley hosted its annual Day of Action.
A little rain didn't stop volunteers from rolling up their sleeves and getting to work.
This year, United Way partnered with the City of Utica and Keep Mohawk Valley Beautiful (KMVB) to create a list of parks, trails and neighborhood spaces that need the most help.
Kassandra Garcia, the United Way development and marketing manager, said, “It's not just one day that you need to clean, so we hope that the one day we clean these urgent locations, someone feels inspired to do the same, collectively moving forward."
Cleanup locations include Utica parks:
O’Connor Park,
Quinn Park,
North Utica Park,
Cinderella Park and
Seymour Park.
In Herkimer County, Ilion Community Garden is getting a cleanup.
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield was the featured corporate sponsor at O’Conner Park with many employees at the event.
Andrea Macdiarmid, the community investment and partnership lead at Excellus BCBS, said, “As a local health plan, it is important for us to partner up with other organizations and be able to give back where we work, live, and play.”
Macdiarmid also said that Excellus BCBS offers employee volunteer time off to encourage them to give back to the community.
The day wrapped with a lunch at Sherrillbrook Park in New Hartford.