It has been a busy week of volunteering for Jerry Womack, a zone supervisor in UNC Charlotte’s Facilities Management Department.
During Holy Week, Womack said his church, Ebenezer Baptist, holds a mission blitz. He packed food at the Second Harvest Food Bank and prepared packages of medical supplies that included items such as non-prescription drugs and bandages for distribution to needy people as part of North Carolina MedAssist.
He was able to take time away from work this week to volunteer because of the 24 hours of community service leave that University employees receive. The leave is a state benefit that UNC Charlotte leaders urge eligible faculty and staff members to use.
But that’s certainly not the hardest volunteer work Womack has done. In October 2018, he was among a team of church mission workers who traveled to the Southeastern North Carolina town of Bladenboro for Hurricane Florence recovery work. Womack helped demolish a flooded home, first moving the occupant’s furniture and other belongings to the roadside as she sat and watched them. It was a 17-hour project.
“By the time we got there, most of the water had receded,” Womack recalled. “But it was overwhelming. In some places, people’s homes had water almost to the roof.”
Womack returned to the flood-ravaged area in November to assemble and distribute boxes of cleaning products, food and other supplies for hurricane victims.
He regularly volunteers in the community through his church, but Womack also has read to students in elementary schools. He said it’s important for children to see African American males making a positive contribution in the community.
“When people are in need, you help,” Womack said. So, he would be volunteering even if UNC Charlotte did not offer community service leave. But Womack said the fact that the University supports its employees by offering the leave makes volunteering a “no-brainer.”
“I encourage my staff to try to do things,” Womack said, adding that the leave is a good benefit but an underused one.
The Community Relations Office in the University Advancement Division coordinates volunteer opportunities for employees with several in the works, including Move-Out, held in conjunction with Recycling and Sustainability.