COACHELLA VALLEY – More than 140 volunteers rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty logging more than 475 hours of sweat equity in an unprecedented Day of Action for the United Way of the Desert.

Throughout the Coachella Valley, the tireless volunteers used elbow grease at 12 schools in three school districts to create the largest United Way of the Desert Day of Action to date.

The day started promptly at 6:45 a.m. with team leaders showing up on site to meet with school coordinators and get all the assignments in order. Team volunteers showed up at 7 a.m. and got right to work. While volunteers in Coachella planted flower beds with Supervisor V. Manuel Perez at Peter Pendleton Elementary School, others such as Gay for Good Palm Springs were cleaning up playgrounds at John F. Kennedy Elementary School.

Other organizations/companies involved were: Democratic Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia’s office, Target (Cathedral City, Palm Desert, and La Quinta), Wells Fargo, Diamond Resorts, Desert Arc, US Bank, and The Rilington Group. The Day of Action wrapped up by 11 a.m.

“I can’t express how I feel to see my community come together for an amazing event,”  Volunteer Coordinator Jacqueline McDonald said in a prepared statement,. “This year’s “Day of Action” saw more than 140 volunteers, eight organizations, Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, Desert Hot Springs Councilman Joe McKee, and California State Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia’s staff cleaning and beautifying 12 schools throughout the Coachella Valley. My heart melts knowing that we can care so much for our community and together we are making it better.”

United Way of the Desert CEO, Kristal Granados, also expressed her gratitude to the volunteers and schools.

“As part of our Operation Achieve education initiative, we are focused on stepping in to the gaps and providing the resources to help our schools, parents, and children succeed,” Granados said in a prepared statement. “Our school district partners and teachers are vitally important in the lives of our valley children, so we wanted to show our love and support through our actions today. We’re so grateful for our volunteers who donated their time and talents to make a difference for our schools and students. Our Day of Action is just one small, but important, demonstration of United Way of the Desert’s commitment to our valley.”

United Way’s Day of Action is an opportunity for volunteers, donors, and advocates who seek to change lives and communities to be part of the solutions that make a real difference in people’s lives. United Way of the Desert is just one of many United Ways spurring hundreds of volunteers into action to create meaningful impact throughout the community for Day of Action – an annual event that mobilizes the caring power of volunteers to create positive change in more than 450 communities around the world