Xcel Employees Look Forward To Day Of Service
DENVER (CBS4) - Xcel Energy started Day of Service five years ago as a response to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The company wanted to honor first responders who died on 9/11 by encouraging their employees to take a few hours to give back to the community.
The energy utility had such a positive response to Day of Service among their own employees that they decided to expand it out to everyone in Colorado. Xcel sets up a variety of volunteer projects all over the state and encourages its employees and the entire Colorado community to give back.
"I participate in Day of Service because I think it's really important to give back to our community. I've been volunteering since I was in high school," said Baird McKevitt, a change management manager for Xcel Energy.
McKevitt has participated in Day of Service for the last four years, doing projects that range from landscaping to sorting food at a food bank.
"Day of Service is a really great opportunity to interact with my communities, but also my fellow employees of Xcel Energy. We get to go out and have fun and give back to really great nonprofits," McKevitt told CBS4.
Over the past four years, Xcel Energy has recruited nearly 6,000 volunteers to work on hundreds of Day of Service projects across Colorado with the total value of service and donations being about $600,000. There are projects for every skill level, including for kids as young as 4 years old. There are even some projects that will get your heart pumping.
"We've had projects and have projects that are really hard work. People helping rejuvenate parks, doing landscaping work, painting buildings. You definitely can be sore at the end of the day, but it's rewarding work," McKevitt explained.
McKevitt said that this year he'll be working at a nonprofit in Boulder called Attention Homes. Attention Homes offers services to at-risk Youth. McKevitt said that he lives in Boulder and feels strongly about making a difference in his community.
Xcel Energy's Day of Service is Saturday, Sept. 12 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
