LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – It’s a snapshot of service and a small sample of compassion that’s touched every corner of the Louisville community this week.
“Here we are in the 9th year of Give-A-Day – we started the first year with one day,” Mayor Greg Fischer said.
A day that turned into a week that turned into a way of life.
“Give-A-Day is all about celebrating our community value of compassion and the best way to do that is to help each other,” he said.
Last year, Louisville saw 205,000 acts of compassion completed for the Week of Service.
This time around looks to be even better with plenty of projects to thank.
Monday brought spring cleaning at the Volunteers of America Shelby Campus.
"We are so fortunate to have a mayor who understands that compassion is a verb and needs to be acted upon. You can't just sit and feel compassionate. You have to do something with that. So, to have him mobilize an entire community to support organizations like ours means the world to us," Jennifer Hancock of Volunteers of America said.
Teens took over Tuesday, shutting down downtown for the WeDay compassion walk.
"We close the streets down for about a half an hour and block it only for the youth. Their voices matter more than anybody else's. They are the leaders now," WeDay co-founder Kris Sirchio said.
Wednesday saved lives with an inaugural blood drive.
"Every two seconds, somebody in the U.S. needs blood. One blood donation can help save up to three lives. So, you're making an amazing impact here locally, regionally, and potentially across the nation,” Tiffany Taylor, American Red Cross, said.
Barrett Traditional Middle School became burrito central on Thursday, with students making 3,000 of them for the city's homeless.
"It's become part of the curriculum. I told the mayor it's math, science, and kindness here. It's absolutely great. The school does a good job of empowering the students to do good,” Andrew Dunn, Random Acts of Kindness founder, said.
Every day looked different, but every day made a difference.
"We're on to something here. People don't want to be divided. People don't want to hate. People want to come together and appreciate their fellow citizens. So, we're happy to be the showcase for that in our country and our world. Hopefully, it'll catch on,” Mayor Fischer said.