Each September, United Way of King County organizes
Day of Caring, an event where thousands of volunteers take the day off from
work and volunteer in their communities.
United Way asks non-profit organizations to sponsor projects, and group
leaders from the supporting businesses select projects and organize volunteers. This year, on September 20, 2013, the
Northwest Railway Museum participated in Day of Caring by sponsoring a series
of projects.
This year there were a variety of projects at the Railway History Center to help preserve and share railway history. Teams of volunteers set up more than 1,200
cubic feet of new collection shelving, moved a substantial number of additional
shelving pieces, planted native plants and gardened around the Train Shed,
worked on window screens and seats for the Spokane, Portland and Seattle coach 218,
prepared windows for painting on coach 272, did a thorough cleaning of the
Chapel Car, and generally had a fun time of helping care for the Museum. A total of 35 volunteers from Microsoft participated,
and they were assisted by several regular Museum volunteers who helped
coordinate the event.
The Northwest Railway Museum thanks all of the volunteers from
Microsoft and the Northwest Railway Museum.
It was a very successful day that allowed projects to be completed in
one day that would have otherwise taken months to complete. If you have a group that would like to volunteer
for a day, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Cristy Lake. Volunteering as a group for the day can be a
fun way to serve the community and have an enjoyable time with friends and
coworkers too.