By LEE ZION Daily News-Record

June 15, 2025

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Volunteers from Spotswood Elementary spent Friday morning pulling weeds and cleaning.

The school was one of 15 sites throughout Rockingham County for United Way’s Day of Action, which the local United Way has done annually for over 30 years.

A swarm of volunteers took on a task at each location. At Connections Early Learning Center in Bridgewater, volunteers created a sensory room with a “tree” in the corner. At Bluestone Elementary, volunteers weeded the garden. At The Arc of Harrisonburg and Rockingham, volunteers painted.

More than 140 volunteers came out at all the sites for what organizer Jim Sacco called the premier United Way event of the year.

“It’s just an opportunity for local businesses to get engaged with volunteerism. To get them out here and do these projects at schools and nonprofits that just don’t have the capacity to do themselves,” Sacco said. “This garden is important to them, and to be able to get folks out here and weed-whack this garden, and to pull weeds, and make this garden everything it could be — it’s just a great opportunity for engagement.”

The eight volunteers, from Riddleberger Brothers Inc. and Nielsen Builders, were dressed in light blue T-shirts that said “United Way.” Others wore purple Spotswood T-shirts.

Gwen Mercado, family school liaison with Spotswood, said she was grateful for the help from United Way.

“With all the recent rain, everything exploded. We had a pretty good handle on it until then. So we were all excited for the help,” said Alexandra Szucs, ESL teacher and also manager of Spotswood’s garden.

Mercado added that summer school would start the following week, so the students would be able to enjoy the garden without the weeds.

“It’ll make it a functional learning space for our school,” Szucs said.

Heath Knott, project manager with Nielsen, said he enjoyed leaving the office.

“Every year, we try to get together for the United Way,” he said. “It’s nice to be out in the community. It’s just nice to get outside.”

Rafael, 5, and Eliana Anderson, 7, were also helping pull weeds. They go to Spotswood, they said.

Their father, Luke Anderson of Riddleberger, was enjoying working alongside Nielsen.

“It’s nice to collaborate on giving back to the community, and not just in a construction way,” he said.

Stephen Howard, who works in business development and marketing with Nielsen, agreed.

“It’s always a great day to serve with United Way,” he said. “I always appreciate that opportunity,” he said.

Sign of the times

After that morning of work at 15 different locations, all the workers came together for a luncheon. Amanda Leech, president and chief executive officer, advised the group to give themselves a round of applause.

“You are a unique, crucial part of what makes today possible. The work that you’re doing every single day,” she said. “Improving lives. You all did this today. You made lives better across the community.”

Leech announced at the meeting that the group was changing its name locally. Until Friday, it was the United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. But earlier this year, in response to the United Way in Augusta County shutting down in October, the United Way in Harrisonburg announced that it was expanding into Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County.

Leech said the decision was not easy, but the expansion was about more than just geography.

“As the cost of living rises, more families struggle to make ends meet. More families are choosing to live in one community while working in another,” she said. “More families are one crisis away from falling into poverty.”

Thus, the expansion into Augusta County reflected a deeper need, and with that, Leech announced the new name: United Way of Central Shenandoah Valley. The new name showcases their regional efforts.

“So what we are able to do, from that perspective, is say, ‘Wow, we’ve got some great transportation solutions here in Harrisonburg. Are there ways that we can help replicate that down in Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro?’”

Right now, the United Way doesn’t have any projects planned. Instead, this is a time for listening sessions and hearing from the community. Leech said that United Way is contacting local agencies to create new partnerships.

Contact Lee Zion at lzion@dnronline.com or 540-208-3174.

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For full story click here: United Way hosts annual Day of Action; announces name change