Comcast Cares Day Helps Laura, 100 Years Young, to Live Independently in Olympia, Washington

April 17, 2013 by

We now have hundreds of Comcast Cares Day volunteer projects on the books, and you could never pick a favorite one. However, we have a nominee for one of the sweetest people we ever helped.

The video above tells the story of a 100-year-old in Olympia whose spirit is an inspiration to all who meet her. I hope the video inspires you to think young … and also to volunteer. Volunteers on Comcast Cares Day 2012 made a big difference in Laura’s life. As the video explains, their work allowed Laura to stay in her own home, living next door to her daughter. To Laura, that’s the world. To us, it’s another great Comcast Cares Day project.

Big thanks to Rebuilding Together Thurston County for allowing us the privilege of helping Laura. Big thanks to our video magician, Ed Hauge, for joining me to meet Laura and filming the video above. You can read more about this year’s projects, coming up on April 27, here.

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KING TV’s ‘New Day Northwest’ Highlights Longstanding Partnership of Comcast and El Centro de La Raza in Seattle

May 1, 2012 by

Steve Kipp of Comcast and Estela Ortega of El Centro de La Raza were guests on the May 1 KING TV New Day Northwest program. Click on the picture to go to the program's page and see the segment.

KING TV’s morning talk show, New Day Northwest, featured the subject of Comcast Cares Day during one of its segments today, May 1. KING’s Margaret Larson interviewed Estela Ortega of El Centro de La Raza and Steve Kipp, vice president of communications for Comcast in Washington.

Estela Ortega was very gracious as she described the aftereffects of 200 volunteers:  ”…it was about $20,000 worth of labor. We could not have afforded that. We need the dollars to go directly into the services to the community. So it was a great help. And this was our second year with Comcast. It helps save a lot of dollars.”

Margaret Larson described one of many reasons why companies do need to give back to the community: “ You make a very good point, because all nonprofits, especially these days when dollars are at such a premium, can’t put that money toward capital expenditures, the building, the asphalt. You know you have a whole in your parking lot, but if it’s a choice between that and feeding a family or doing something that’s critical, you have to put your dollars into the program, so this is unbelievably valuable to you.”

Steve Kipp talked about other ways that Comcast enjoys supporting El Centro de La Raza, such as through its youth Digital Connectors program: “We like to think of ourselves as partners, so if Estela needs something, she gives me a call, and we try to figure it out and work with them.”

You can click here to go to New Day’s page and hear what everyone had to say. To see a set of photos on Flickr that capture some of the activity on Comcast Cares Day, click here.

More than 2,200 Comcast employees, friends and family members volunteered throughout Washington. You can read more and see photographs and video of the various 2012 projects here.

Filed under 2012 Comcast Washington News Releases, 2012 News Releases, Community investment, News Releases Tagged with , , , , ,

Comcast Employees, Family and Friends Make a Big Difference Throughout Western Washington and Spokane on 11th Annual Comcast Cares Day

April 23, 2012 by


It’s hard to know what to say to the more than 2,200 local Comcast employees and their families and friends who volunteered Saturday, April 21, 2012, at 13 school and nonprofit sites around Western Washington and Spokane as part of Comcast Cares Day.

Comcast’s Steve Kipp was one of several people that KIRO talked to the morning of Comcast Cares Day at our volunteer site of El Centro de La Raza in Seattle. Click on the picture to see the interviews.

Of course, we do say, Thank You. But one thing we like to do is collect photographs and stories from the day, as part of this wonderful scrapbook that we all call the Internet. So if you keep an eye on this post, you will see a gradually growing list of links to photographs and stories about our volunteers’ hard work.

Here is a list of projects and reports:

Aberdeen: Habitat for Humanity of Grays Harbor.

Click on the picture to see a photograph published in the Daily World of Aberdeen, Washington

Bellingham: Whatcom Parks and Recreation Foundationat the Chuckanut Falls Trail

Bremerton: Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound’s Bremerton Olympia Avenue location

Everett: Salvation Army

Everett: Cascade High School and the Everett School District

Fife: Fife Parks Department at the Lower Hylebos Marsh


Kent: Northwest Harvest Northwest Harvest reports that our people put in $24,000 worth of donated labor. We packed 19,000 meals for the hungry.


Olympia: Rebuilding Together of Thurston County.

Redmond: Eastside Audubon Society at the Audubon BirdLoop at Marymoor Park.

Seattle: El Centro de La Raza

Seattle: Wing Luke Asian Museum

Spokane: Northeast Community Center

Tacoma: Metro Parks STAR (South Tacoma Activity and Recreation) Center  Here, Comcast volunteers worked side-by-side with partners from the Tacoma Urban League and a local Girl Scout Troop.

Here’s a video produced by the Tacoma Urban League’s youth Comcast Digital Connectors and one of their instructors, Yusaf Word:

Filed under 2012 Comcast Washington News Releases, 2012 News Releases, Community investment, News Releases Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

11th Annual Comcast Cares Day on Saturday Mobilizes More Than 2,200 Volunteers in Western Washington and Spokane

April 19, 2012 by

Click on the picture above to see KREM2 TV's report about our Comcast Cares Day project in Spokane.

As we announced in the original post about Comcast Cares Day 2012, it’s time to gear up for one of the biggest days of corporate service in the country! This is the news release we prepared for the occasion. Keep an eye out for frequent updates.  

LYNNWOOD, WA – April 19, 2012– On Saturday, April 21, more than 2,200 local Comcast employees and their families and friends will volunteer to improve 13 school and nonprofit sites around Western Washington and Spokane as part of Comcast Cares Day.

Throughout the country, more than 67,000 Comcast volunteers will participate in this annual day of service.  Since its inception in 2001, Comcast Cares Day has become one of the largest single days of corporate volunteering in the country.

During the day of service, Comcast employees in Washington will take part in a variety of volunteer efforts ranging from finishing the landscaping at a new community center to installing improvements at a house so a 100-year-old lady can continue to live there independently.

Over the previous 10 Comcast Cares Days, Comcast volunteers have dedicated more than 2.1 million hours of service. The Company has also contributed more than $10.5 million in grants to organizations nationwide. Comcast Cares Day is one way that Comcast helps to power dreams and demonstrate a year-round commitment to making a difference in the communities it serves.

“Since Comcast Cares Day began, more than 360,000 employees, their families and friends have contributed their time to improving the communities where we live and work,” said Len Rozek, senior vice president of Comcast’s Washington market, who will be volunteering at El Centro de La Raza in Seattle. “Today, we will surpass 2.5 million total hours of service. I’m grateful to the volunteers here in Washington who will be donating their time to help make such a big difference in the lives of others.”

This is a list of the communities where the projects will take place, and our community partners:

Aberdeen: Habitat for Humanity of Grays Harbor. (Radio station KBKW had a report about the event here)

Bellingham: Whatcom Parks and Recreation Foundation at the Chuckanut Falls Trail.

Bremerton: Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound’s Bremerton Olympia Avenue location

Everett: Salvation Army

Everett: Cascade High School and the Everett School District

Fife: Fife Parks Department at the Lower Hylebos Marsh. (You can see a nice article in the Fife Free Press here about Comcast Cares Day there)

Kent: Northwest Harvest (The Kent Reporter’s account is here)

Olympia: Rebuilding Together of Thurston County. (ThurstonTalk.com has a really nice story summarizing all that Rebuilding Together does)

Redmond: Eastside Audubon Society at the Audubon BirdLoop at Marymoor Park.

Seattle: El Centro de La Raza

Seattle: Wing Luke Asian Museum

Spokane: Northeast Community Center (KREM 2′s story done in advance of the work is here)

Tacoma: Metro Parks STAR (South Tacoma Activity and Recreation) Center  Here, Comcast volunteers will be working side-by-side with partners from the Tacoma Urban League and a local Girl Scout Troop.

The Comcast Foundation will provide grants to local community partner organizations across the country on behalf of each employee and family member who volunteers on Comcast Cares Day. The grants will help Comcast’s community partners continue their mission of serving the community throughout the year.

For more information on Comcast’s volunteer and community investment initiatives, visit http://www.comcast.com/inthecommunity.  For more information about Comcast Cares Day in Washington, see http://wacomcast.com/tag/comcast-cares-day/

Filed under 2012 Comcast Washington News Releases, 2012 News Releases, Community investment, News Releases Tagged with ,

Looking forward to Comcast Cares Day 2012 in Washington State

March 20, 2012 by

Every year, Comcast organizes one of the largest single corporate days of service in the country, known as Comcast Cares Day. Last year, more than 2,200 Comcast employees and their families and friends volunteered to improve more than a dozen locations throughout Western Washington and in Spokane. One of the locations was El Centro de La Raza, which is featured in the video above.

The local coordinators in our various field offices and call centers have just finished picking the project sites for this year’s Comcast Cares Day: Saturday, April 21, 2012.

We will share more as the projects and work comes together, but here’s a list of what’s to come:

Aberdeen: Habitat for Humanity of Grays Harbor. We’ll be doing some landscaping and other work for two of their homes.

Bellingham: Whatcom Parks and Recreation Foundation. This should be a good and messy project: We’ll be working on trail construction at Chuckanut Falls Trail.

Bremerton: Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound. We’ll do a lot of work at their Bremerton Olympia Avenue location including lots of handywork like painting, simple plumbing, lots of various building repairs, gardening, and fixing up several playground areas.

Everett: Salvation Army (organized by the team from our Everett field offices) We’ll be painting, landscaping, cleaning,  organizing toys, and some light carpentry and repairs.

Everett: Cascade High School (organized by the team from our Everett and Lynnwood call centers, and local corporate offices) We’ll be working on the grounds here, and perhaps some other Everett School District schools as well.

Fife: Fife Parks Department (organized by the team at our Puyallup field offices) This one should also be good and messy: We’ll be helping to clean up and to remove invasive species from the Lower Hylebos Marsh.

Kent: Northwest Harvest (organized by our Auburn-based teams) We’ll be doing a lot here, from caring for the grounds with intensive cleaning and gardening projects, to working the assembly line to prepare food for delivery.

Olympia: Rebuilding Together of Thurston County. We’ll help them with fixing up buildings and some repairs.

Redmond: Eastside Audubon Society. We’ll be removing blackberry bushes and weeding and spreading bark along the Audubon BirdLoop at Marymoor Park.

Seattle: El Centro de La Raza These folks have a big facility, and we look forward to doing a lot of things there. This was one of our sites last year, too.

Seattle: Wing Luke Asian Museum

Spokane: Northeast Community Center

Tacoma: Metro Parks STAR (South Tacoma Activity and Recreation) Center (organized by the team at our Fife call center, in cooperation with the Tacoma Urban League)

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