CBS 42 serves community during Nexstar’s 29th Founder’s Day of Caring

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) – Friday was CBS 42’s parent company Nexstar Media Group’s annual Founder’s Day of Caring, a day of service commemorating the founding of our corporate broadcasting company. Nexstar stations all across the country are volunteering within the communities we serve every day.

Our team at CBS 42 volunteered with multiple organizations across central Alabama.

“One of the nice things about a group like this, a project that you would not normally be able to do, you get a great group of volunteers out and many hands make light work,” said David Clark, community services liaison with United Way of Central Alabama.

Learn more about volunteering with United Way of Central Alabama here.

“We couldn’t do this without their help and it’s going to move so quickly with so many people willing to come and volunteer,” Glenwood kindergarten director Amelia Spencer said. “We welcome volunteers, we love to have volunteers with all kinds of things that happen, especially in the summer.”

For more information on volunteering with Glenwood, go to the website here.

Many of the organizations we partnered with say volunteers are their backbone and what keeps them running smoothly.

“It helps our staff be able to focus on socializing the animals and doing other tasks that they oftentimes don’t get the time to do,” said Greater Birmingham Humane Society executive director Allison Black Cornelius. “And it’s great for you all, it’s great for the volunteer, lowers your blood pressure, reduces your stress, gives back to the community, gives you a sense of purpose. I think it’s a good break from what y’all do every day, probably like it is for us too. So, I think it’s a win-win for y’all and for us.”

You can find out how to volunteer with the Greater Birmingham Humane Society at the link here.

“Volunteer work is so important. We actually call our volunteers the heart of our organization,” Camilla Jones, volunteer coordinator at First Light, said. “Even from the very beginning, first light was started by volunteers who saw a need in the community to shelter homeless women.”

First Light volunteer information can be found here.

As journalists, giving back and getting to know our community is one of the most important and rewarding parts of our job.

“We are in the service business. We serve our viewers every day with news coverage as well as service to our clients on the broadcast and digital platform,” CBS 42 VP and General Manager Jimmy Cromwell said. “This is an opportunity to serve in a very unique way in multiple sites across the community.”

These organizations welcome help from you too.

“It takes a village. I mean we have a 400-million dollar a year annual budget. Oftentimes, that is volunteers coming in and doing laundry kits like you guys are doing, helping provide stuff for meals or snacks, just coming in and doing an art project with the kids. There’s all kinds of ways,” Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama president Katherine Estes Billmeier said.

For details on volunteering with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama, click here.