United Way helpers dig in for a day.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

When Michelle Pera first arrived Wednesday morning for some volunteer yard work at the William Ware halfway house in Eugene, she didn't think the task at hand appeared all that demanding.

But that was before Kerrie Bishop, program director at William Ware, pointed out the mammoth hedge of ivy that needed pulling out from the property's back wall.

"It looked a little daunting," said Pera, a temporary events planner at the Eugene Water & Electric Board. "But we figured with seven of us, we can accomplish it."

Pera was right: By late morning, she and six EWEB co-workers had managed to pull a dump truck load's worth of stubborn ivy from the fence line. In the process, they reclaimed a large metal landscaping arch and uncovered the contour of a garden rock wall.

Bishop was ecstatic about the transformation.

"These guys are saints - garden saints," she said. "This is incredible; this is wonderful."

Similar scenes played out across Eugene the past two days as part of United Way of Lane County's 14th annual Days of Caring. The community enterprise involved more than 1,000 volunteers - divided into 80 teams from 50 local companies - who swooped in to paint, rake and otherwise complete projects at United Way-funded agencies.

Volunteers painted over graffiti at the White Bird Dental Clinic, drew sidewalk chalk murals at the Boys & Girls Club, helped build a greenhouse at FOOD for Lane County's Grassroots Garden, loaded recycled materials at BRING's Planet Improvement Center, and spread gravel and cleared paths at a Girl Scouts camp.

Most participating employers paid those workers who wanted to spend a half-day helping others. EWEB was the biggest participant, with more than 100 employees on 12 teams volunteering to help.

Other employers with multiple work teams were Pape Group, Oregon Medical Group, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Datalogic, Oregon Community Credit Union and Oregon Imaging Centers.

The William Ware residence, home to 10 residents with chronic mental illness, had never before been a Days of Caring beneficiary, Bishop said.

A small staff operates on a shoestring budget, she said, and so there is never time to maintain the Jefferson Street property's considerable landscaping.

Now, thanks to the EWEB crew of ivy pullers, residents have a nice, quiet outdoor space in which to relax, she said.

A mile or so away, another EWEB contingent was busy Wednesday sprucing up the outside of the Lane County Legal Aid & Advocacy Center on East 11th Avenue. The center provides legal help to low-income people.

Jean Beachdel, director of the center's senior law services, said the agency for 10 years has welcomed Days of Caring volunteers who help with landscaping and other outdoor work.

"We've come to kind of count on them - we have no budget to hire people to do that work," she said. "I'm not sure what we'd do if they said, `Sorry.' '

Beachdel said she was amazed to arrive at work by 9 a.m., and find that the EWEB team had arrived at 7 a.m.

"These people, you've got to hand it to them - their hearts are in the right place," she said. "They are eager beavers."

Volunteers say they reap their own rewards: a chance to help others, get out of the office, and build camaraderie with co-workers.

For example, the EWEB contingent at Legal Aid consisted entirely of purchasing department employees - "Team Purchasing" they called themselves.

Purchasing coordinator Gail Murray said it's satisfying to band together to help an agency that doesn't have the time or money to do such work. "And they are so appreciative," she said of Legal Aid staff. "It's a feel-good for everyone."

Guy Melton, a purchasing analyst who spent the morning wielding a power washer, identified an extra bonus. "I get to play with power tools," he said.