A Day of Caring is a community-wide outreach program designed to help the uninsured and underinsured residents of White County. The mission of White County Medical Center is to create and promote a healthy community; therefore, WCMC partners with local businesses and organizations to provide the services available at A Day of Caring.

The Junior Auxiliary of Searcy plays a significant role in A Day of Caring each year by providing lunches to participants and volunteers and by collecting and distributing socks and underwear. Thanks to the JA, A Day of Caring received $2,500 in funding from the Pepsi Refresh Project, in partnership with Doublebee’s Convenience Stores, which was used to purchase grocery items for the A Day of Caring Food Bank.

Junior Auxiliary President Jennifer Holzhauer, WCMC Director of Marketing Brooke Pryor, Doublebee’s Area Supervisor Chris Gann, Pepsi Co. Account Executive Wesley Bridges, White County Medical Foundation Executive Director Cassandra Feltrop, Doublebee’s President Steve Lightle, and Foundation Specialist Blaine Francis.

“The Pepsi Refresh Project is about people like you and me coming up with ideas that will refresh the world and their local communities. A Day of Caring demonstrates how a community can come together and show compassion to create positive change in people’s lives,” said Wesley Bridges, Account Executive for South Arkansas, Pepsi Beverages Company.

In an effort to support those who generate innovative, optimistic ideas, the Pepsi Refresh Project (www.RefreshEverything.com), will award more than $20 million in 2010 to move communities forward. Individuals can apply for grants to benefit a variety of projects and site visitors can vote for the best ideas for funding. The Pepsi Refresh Project is an evolution of the Refresh Everything initiative Pepsi launched in 2009, which showed the brand as an optimistic catalyst for idea creation, leading to an ever-refreshing world. Pepsi will fund projects that make a difference in six categories: Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods and Education.

A Day of Caring offers free medical, dental and eye screenings; additional services available to participants include haircuts, immunizations, pap exams, prostate screenings and blood pressure checks. Items such as school supplies, food, Bibles, socks, underwear, diapers and personal care products are also distributed. The annual Shots for Tots and Teens program also takes place during A Day of Caring.

In 2010, more than 430 people came together to assist with this outreach, demonstrating a remarkable spirit of volunteerism; and, more than 1,100 uninsured or underinsured residents in our community received assistance.
The 2011 A Day of Caring will be held Saturday, July 23 from 9 a.m. to Noon at the Ganus Athletic Center. For more information, please call (501) 380-1054 or e-mail marketing@wcmc.org.

With more than 1450 associates, White County Medical Center is the second-largest employer in Searcy. The facility has a combined total of 438 licensed beds and a medical staff of 150 physicians that specialize in various areas of healthcare. Associates are committed to the continuous improvement of quality patient care through services and programs for people in all stages of life. WCMC serves Cleburne, Independence, Jackson, Prairie, White and Woodruff counties.