In the past few years, United Way of New York City has been able to connect employees of 40 corporate partners with approximately 50 community-based organizations through our volunteer programs. As a volunteer coordinator, I’ve had the unique opportunity to witness first-hand the effects that volunteerism has on these organizations. From childcare centers to food pantries, many are understaffed and in constant need of volunteers.

On a recent visit to a childcare center in Brooklyn, I realized the overwhelming benefits of volunteerism. The walls in the hallway of the school were covered by a dull, chipping paint, which was hardly a welcoming entrance to the group of children that passed through it each day. Although the administrators of the childcare center wanted to make the entrance more inviting, they lacked the $12,000 it would cost to hire a contractor. This is where United Way stepped in. Through United Way, a group of 40 corporate volunteers PriceWaterhouse Coopers painted the center’s classrooms and hallway -- replacing the lifeless paint with new intricate colors. The dreary walls are now filled with vibrant shades of blue, green, and purple.

As I left the center and walked to the subway, I thought about the impact of the volunteers on this site, and what a worthwhile cause it was to create a better learning environment for the school’s young students. Our volunteer project spanning the afternoon of one day may seem small in some respects but it creates a powerful ripple effect. If we all act in a way to “be the change we want to see in the world,” these are the perfect afternoon activities. And nothing was more confirming of this thought than seeing the delighted faces of the children as they entered the newly dawned hallways of their school.