Hundreds of Valley residents are expected to descend on downtown Snoqualmie on Oct. 7 for this year’s Love Snoqualmie Valley Volunteer Day.
Returning for the first time since 2019, the event is expected to recruit roughly 250 residents for a dozen service projects happening across the Valley. Volunteers will do everything from picking up trash and removing invasive species to reorganizing the food bank and sprucing up walls at the Sno-Valley Senior center.
Danielle Cox, a city engagement specialist with Love Snoqualmie Valley, said their group’s mission is to work alongside local nonprofits in the Valley that are already doing great work, but can be shorthanded and in need of more volunteers. Volunteer Day aims to help residents connect with these groups, and recognize the way they contribute to their community, Cox said.
“Our mission is to bring collaboration,” she said. “People know they want to help, but often don’t know how.”
Love Snoqualmie Valley, a nonprofit group, was first launched in 2019 by Emily Ridout, a local mission pastor, who heard about the Love Our Cities program while visiting Modesto, Calif.
Today, the Love Snoqualmie Valley group has a five person board with Cox serving as its one part-time employee.
Part of the program includes volunteer day, an international event of giving that happens in 60 different communities each year. Love Snoqualmie Valley launched its first volunteer day in 2019, a widely successful event that drew over 400 residents and led 20 projects. Cox attributed the success to the special community spirit of the Valley.
“There’s a really unique community mindset here,” she said. “Whether people have lived here for generations or just moved in last week, they still want to be part of the community.”
In 2020, Volunteer Day was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Love Snoqualmie has worked on other projects, including holiday gift donation drives and fundraisers. Cox said they are excited to return the event.
Volunteering Day serves as a “catalyst,” she said. Picking up trash with a neighbor brings neighbors together, she said. And those who participate see their chances of becoming year-round volunteers increase dramatically. Projects this year will benefit Snoqualmie Valley schools, both the Mt. Si and SnoValley Senior Centers, Trail Youth Coffee, Green Snoqualmie Project, Food Bank and other groups.
“There’s something beautiful about seeing a mass of people doing something for the community,” she said.
Get involved
The Love Snoqualmie Valley Volunteer Day is being held on Oct. 7. To sign up, visit lovesnoqualmievalley.com.
