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Concannon Miller employees deeply moved by Day of Caring volunteering

Published: September 21, 2015 Author: Lynn Olanoff, Concannon Miller

Community service is central to Concannon Miller’s mission, and we’re a dedicated participant in the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley’s annual Day of Caring.

While the effort is intended to get hundreds of volunteers to assist worthy community organizations for a day, at Concannon Miller, it’s not just the community organizations that benefit.

The Concannon employees – many of who eagerly volunteer every year – say they’re the ones that get the most out of the experience.

Two of those employees are Cheri Palmer-Herb and Judy Remaly. They found previous Day of Caring experiences at the Boys & Girls Club in Allentown and New Bethany Ministries very worthwhile, but they were both especially moved by their most recent volunteer experience at Sayre Child Center in Bethlehem.

The two Back Office Solutions employees said they greatly enjoyed spending time with the day care’s children – and vice versa.

When Judy left for the day, the children begged her to come back tomorrow.

“Those kids were all over me like glue,” she said. “I wish we could go again.”

Concannon Miller Day of Caring

Sayre’s teachers were very caring, but both Judy and Cheri were saddened by the lack of sufficient supplies. Cheri said she was sad to see the children painting on flimsy copy paper – which the paint soaked through – when she has extra lightweight cardboard she discards on a daily basis.

“It opens our eyes to what we could give them, and all the things we throw away that they could need,” she said.

Since returning from the Day of Caring event, Cheri has been collecting cardboard and extra envelopes Sayre teachers also said they could use. Cheri and Judy plan to drop off the supplies once they have a sufficient collection, along with planned gifts of snacks and stickers for the kids.

“This has probably been the most emotional one – it pulls at my heart,” Cheri said.

Another group of altruistic Concannon employees helped paint at the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley. The Concannon team painted the storage area for the organization’s disaster team, and Concannon employee Kristol Nelson said she was blown away to learn the entire team consists of volunteers.

“It was very rewarding to hear their stories and what they do – I had no idea all that they do,” said Kristol, who also works in Back Office Solutions. “They help with every fire, no matter how small.”

Kristol said she also was surprised to learn most of the Red Cross’s budget comes from donations.

“I would definitely go help there again,” she said.

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