In Germantown and Across Region, Volunteers Come Out in Force for Comcast Cares Day

On Saturday, 300 Comcast volunteers rose early and made their way to the Germantown Boys & Girls Club. It was Comcast Cares Day, so they ditched their corporate wear for oversized green t-shirts and jeans. The 130-year-old Germantown Club was due for a facelift. Its adjacent park called for grooming, and a cluttered basement needed repurposing.

“It’s easy to think of what we’re doing as painting and cleaning and repairing, but when the kids come back to the Club on Monday, they will see a different place,” said Bob Smith, vice president of government affairs for Comcast Cable. “It will be brighter and more vibrant, and that’s the change we’re trying to make happen. Kids will have a better environment in which to learn, play, or just be safe after school.”

Comcast Cares Day, Comcast and NBCUniversal’s signature day of service, is an annual event that takes place across the globe. In the Philadelphia region, roughly 4,000 volunteers were invested in 90 one-day projects. There were 27 projects within city limits.

Most of Comcast’s projects are hands-on — including the Boys & Girls Club in Germantown, which drew telegenic celebrity volunteers from the DIY Network and HGTV channels. Another high-profile beautification project at Woodrow Wilson Middle School involved City Year and the Philadelphia Eagles.

“We have marketers and lawyers and accountants who look forward to getting away from the things that they do everyday at their desk, and to getting paint on their shirts and mud on their shoes,” Smith said. Smaller initiatives across the region included blood drives, the wiring of computer labs, and pop-up Internet training classes.

Project ideas for Comcast Cares Day are generated from employees, community organizations, and a company leadership group that identifies projects with significant volunteer capacity. “Employees are the number one source of ideas. We work with our eyes and ears open all year,” Smith added.

In Germantown, volunteers in full-body paint suits teetered on ladders, sweeping cobwebs from hard to reach places. The historic Club is one of the oldest in the nation, but Boys & Girls Clubs Co-Director Lisabeth Marziello says the organization has big plans there.

“Our long-term vision is to build a kids’ campus,” she said, referring to the undeveloped 3600-square-foot lot adjacent to the Club.

In addition to providing manpower, Comcast footed the bill for project supplies, and it presented checks to select organizations. The Boys & Girls Clubs — which also has a national relationship with Comcast — received $25,000.

“Writing a check is important, but when you come in and give 110 percent of yourself, that is 10 times more important, because you’re there for our kids,” Marziello said.

(Photos courtesy of Comcast)