Volunteer Warren's first year: 1,600 hours

Jill Sypole has learned a few things since she founded Volunteer Warren one year ago this week: People love to lend a hand, but they’re very quiet about it.
“It’s been awesome,” said Ms. Sypole, who founded the volunteer organization to give residents a venue to help improve Warren. “There were a ton of people who volunteered.”
Her goal for the first year was to log 2,017 hours of volunteer work. And while the group didn’t technically reach that (with about 1,600 hours logged), she thinks actual volunteer hours probably hit the mark, with close to 200 people volunteering their time over the course of the year.
“We have modest volunteers in Warren,” she joked. “They don’t like to log all of their hours.”
Volunteer Warren will celebrate its one-year anniversary this coming Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the Market Street Pub. It will be a chance to look back on the year, but also an opportunity to plan for 2018.
“We’ll be doing some project planning and starting to look ahead,” she said.
Over the first year, Volunteer Warren members helped run movies at Burr’s Hill, assisted homebound and the elderly residents who needed help digging out after snow storms, cleaned trash from Burr’s Hill and Jamiel Park, painted classrooms in the Mary V. Quirk School, ran organized cleanups along Main Street, and more.
In the coming year, Ms. Sypole wants to continue the snow removal program and hopes to get back to the Quirk school, as there is more to be done there. She said she’s proud of the volunteers, who signed up for varying projects and freely contributed of their time.
“It’s been a great year,” she said.
Next Wednesday’s celebration at the Market Street Pub starts at 7 p.m. Kids are welcome. For more information on the group, see their website.