Aurora volunteers ready to build bikes and home

MILWAUKEE — The final Weeks of Caring campaign of 2017 will focus on helping the communities served by Aurora Health Care, including a meaningful opportunity in honor of a fellow caregiver in Sheboygan. Caregivers will fill more than 600 volunteer slots across Aurora’s service area from Sept. 25 – Oct. 1.

“I’m humbled by our caregivers in Sheboygan,” said Vivian King, Aurora’s vice president of community relations. “They mourned with a colleague last year and this year, matched his commitment to give back. Now, a family in need will have a new home.”

Three children of Aurora caregiver Christopher Maki and his wife, Kristi, died in a house fire in Sheboygan Falls in January 2016. The couple has donated the land their house formerly sat on to Habitat for Humanity and caregivers will be helping to build a new home at the site.

Caregivers volunteering through this Weeks of Caring effort will help local organizations with a variety of projects, from shopping with food pantry clients and helping children with homework to sorting clothing donations and serving meals. Opportunities are also available for caregivers to spruce up organizations’ buildings and grounds.

The Aurora Weeks of Caring program is an organized volunteer opportunity for caregivers offered four times each year. The effort builds on Aurora Health Care’s longstanding tradition of community service. In 2016, caregivers contributed more than 1,200 hours to local organizations through Weeks of Caring in its inaugural year.

“Aurora Weeks of Caring is just over a year old, and we are thrilled with how it has grown from a grassroots perspective,” King said. “The more our caregivers volunteer the more they come up with ways to give back to the communities where they live and work.”

In another notable event, more than 50 Aurora’s caregivers from Human Resources have signed up to build 10 bikes with Bikes for Goodness Sake. The bikes will be donated to local children through Journey House of Milwaukee.

In 2017, Aurora caregivers donated blood, read Dr. Seuss books to schoolchildren and helped feed the hungry as part of Weeks of Caring opportunities in January, February and June.

List of volunteer outings by area:

Burlington/Walworth

VIP Services, Elkhorn, Sept. 25, 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Love, Inc., Burlington, Sept. 26, 10:00 a.m. – noon, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m., and Sept. 28, 10:00 a.m. – noon, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Open Arms Free Clinic, Elkhorn, Sept. 27, noon – 2:00 p.m., and Sept. 29, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Milwaukee area

Hunger Task Force, Sept. 25, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

53rd Street Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee, Sept. 25, 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, Sept. 25, 10:00 a.m. — noon

Human Concern South Milwaukee, Sept. 25, noon – 2:00 p.m.

Project Concern of Cudahy, Sept. 25, 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Bikes for Goodness Sake bike build, Sept. 26, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

The Gathering, Sept. 26, 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., Sept. 27, 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

MCFI, Sept. 26, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., Sept. 27, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., Sept. 28, 3:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Sept. 29, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Good Samaritan Outreach Center, West Allis, Sept. 26, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., Sept. 27, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and Sept. 28, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, Sept. 27, 8:00 a.m. – noon, and Sept. 29, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Lincoln Avenue Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee, Sept. 27, 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Wisconsin Humane Society, Milwaukee, Sept. 28, 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Green Bay/Marinette

Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin, Sept. 25, noon – 5:00 p.m.

Rennes Rehab & Skilled Nursing East, Peshtigo, Sept. 25, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. and Sept. 29, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Paul’s Pantry, Green Bay, Sept. 25, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., Sept. 26, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., and Sept. 27, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Our Savior’s Lutheran, Marinette, Sept. 27, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeastern Wisconsin, Sept. 28, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

YWCA of Greater Green Bay, Sept. 29, 10:00 a.m. – noon, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Manitowoc County

Friends of Mariners Trail, Two Rivers, Sept. 27, 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Big Brothers Big Sisters, Manitowoc, Sept. 28, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Manitowoc County Senior Center Meals on Wheels, Sept. 29, 10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Oshkosh

Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Service, Sept. 26, 10:00 a.m. – noon, and Sept. 27, 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh, Sept. 28, 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Ozaukee County

Advocates of Ozaukee, Saukville, Sept. 27, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Camp Hometown Heroes, Grafton, Sept. 28, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., and Sept. 30, 10:00 a.m. – noon.

Racine/Kenosha

Shalom Center, Kenosha, Sept. 25, 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., and Sept. 26, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

HALO, Racine, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha, Sept. 27, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., and Sept. 28, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Wisconsin Humane Society, Racine, Oct. 1, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Sheboygan

Habitat for Humanity, Sheboygan Falls, Sept. 26, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Sept. 27, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Sept. 28, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Washington County

Albrecht Free Clinic, West Bend, Sept. 26, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., and Sept. 29, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Interfaith Washington County, Sept. 27, 10:00 a.m. – noon

Friends, Inc., Sept. 28, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Waukesha County

Hope Center, Sept. 25, 10:00 a.m. – noon, and Sept. 29, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Lake Area Free Clinic, Oconomowoc, Sept. 27, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Family Services of Waukesha, Sept. 28, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

The Women’s Center, Sept. 29, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.