United Way welcomed Porter County families to Sunset Hill Farm County Park on Saturday for their 3rd annual Field Day & Volunteer Fair.
“[It’s an] affordable family fun day for parents of young children to bring out their kids and get to know their community through the organizations that are represented,” said Anicia Kosky, Impact Director for United Way. “[This event] is open to any individual in the community who’s interested in learning more about the non-profits in the area so they can see who they’d like to support with their time and talents.”
Families were invited to bring their own picnic baskets or swing by the Blue Chip Casino King of the Road food truck for footlong chili cheese dogs, lobster mac n’ cheese, or street corn. For a refreshing dessert, families could pick up DIY slushies from Kona Ice.
The event was sponsored by Metro Recycling, Wayne Enterprises, Kevin Ribordy and The Times Media Group.
Kids were welcome to check out the farm’s animals or hop on a trailer for a family tractor ride, and South Haven Fire Department brought a truck, lights flashing, for kids to explore the fun behind every hatch. Live music was provided by Counter Theory, who performed an acoustic set of covers and originals, followed by a plugged-in performance by The Erly.
By pairing games and education, each of the organizations were able to do double-duty by contributing fun for the kids and offering opportunities for parents to take advantage of community resources or get involved in helping their own community through volunteerism.
Angela Kalin, Salvation Army Director of Development, brought her son Henry to host a game of cornhole. Winners got their pick of candy, balloons, or branded “God Bless You” tissues just in time for allergy season. The Salvation Army has been active in Porter County for over 40 years, from emergency assistance, to a food pantry, and more.
“We’re here to help and service the people of Porter County,” said Kalin. “We grow up with the red kettles, but we don’t always know what happens after you put the money in there.”
Neighbors’ Educational Opportunities (NEO) hosted a relay race that invited kids to carefully keep the marshmallow at the end of the spoon clenched between their teeth. As most marshmallows hit the ground at some point in the race, fresh marshmallows were available as treats for all participants afterwards.
“We hope to get the word out that your education doesn’t have to stop – you can continue. Most of our services are free,” said Courtney Dix, NEO Administrative Assistant.
Housing Opportunities hosted a Bozo Buckets game, and Girls on the Run hosted a Shower Curtain Race. Meals on Wheels hosted a “Food Group” relay race, and the Foodbank of NWI held a tic-tac-toe fruit relay. Horizon Bank also participated by hosting a crab walk relay.
This was the first year that the National Youth Advocate Program participated in the field day by hosting a water pong game. This foster program servicing Lake, Porter, and LaPorte Counties is hoping to find potential foster parents.
“The need for foster parents in Indiana right now is huge,” said Stefanie Mora of the National Youth Advocate Program. “There are too many kids in care and not enough homes to care for them.”
At the Junior Achievement booth, a water balloon launch was held for the kids, which was a perfect complement to the warm, breezy weather. Operations Manager Kris Engel has been employed by Junior Achievement for three years now but started with the organization eight years ago as a volunteer.
“With kindergarten, we talk about needs versus wants and saving money,” said Engel. “It builds at every grade level. For high school we talk about soft skills – so you can get and keep your job – personal finance, budgeting, and ideas like spending less than you earn.”
Hilltop Neighborhood House hosted a duck pond with some of the kids’ favorite prizes: BUBBLES! Hilltop provides the community with quality early childhood education, after school programs, and a food pantry, regardless of ability to pay.
Gabriel’s Horn, a women and children’s shelter servicing all of Porter County, hosted a water relay. While they don’t have a great need for volunteers, Director Mignon Kennedy was happy to help kids have some fun while getting the word out about what they do for the community.
“We provide case management [and] transportation, we help women apply for housing, and we do some classes. We’re trying to get women back on their feet again as quickly as possible,” Kennedy said.
Park Rangers from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore hosted a table full of fun, featuring Cleopatra, an eastern box turtle, and native animal furs with a magnifying glass offering a closer look. Ranger Shelby Hoyert was excited to meet people who want to volunteer or visit the park.
“We have a lot of different opportunities to help, including drop-ins where volunteers can spend a couple hours on the weekends to help with invasive removal or help with animals at the farm, which currently has two pigs, chickens, a cow, a goat, and is working on getting turkeys,” she said.
Opportunity Enterprises hosted a bags race where kids could run from the starting line and try to toss a bag into the cornhole, with points being awarded for getting it on the board.
Asa Kerr serves the PoCo Muse (Porter County Museum) through AmeriCorp. PoCo Muse’s booth featured historical trivia, encouraging families to visit, learn, and play at the museum.
“We have a lot of events for kids, usually on Saturdays. Right now, we have a make-your-own flag exhibit for interactive learning,” Kerr said.
Lakeshore Public Media was there, as well as American Greyhound, which brought dogs for the kids to meet. Portage YMCA and 1st Source Bank also had games for kids at their booths. Boys & Girls Club of Northwest Indiana hosted a tug-of-war and Covering Kids and Families of Healthy Communities hosted carnival games.
“We’re fairly new to Porter County, so we want people to know that we’re out here for their services,” said Rametra Evans, Covering Kids’ Lead Enrollment Specialist.
“Our services are free, so we could use the help,” added Deb Piotrowski, Enrollment Specialist.
Recovery Connection was on hand to encourage the community to help addicts and their families to find help in their programs. Krystal Mulzon, who hosts SMART meetings in the evenings, brought pamphlets to show the opportunities available to volunteers, and wanted to get the word out about the resources Recovery Connection brings to the community.
“We use CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) techniques and tools to help people in recovery change their patterns so they don’t relapse,” Mulzon said. “We have support groups for families to provide an environment to speak about their experiences with people who are going through the same things.”
At United Way’s own booth, kids of all ages were invited to play a game of Giant Jenga and score free water for the hot day. United Way currently provides more than $2 million to support 55 different programs region-wide, from financial stability to health and volunteerism.
“Our volunteer program is very important because there isn’t another organization that does community-wide volunteerism,” Kosky said. “Our volunteers help area non-profits get things done."
If you’d like to get involved with United Way, join the United Way Day of Caring on August 10th and learn more about how you can impact your community on their website here!