Faculty and staff joined forces at the PVCC Community Garden, one of several Day of Caring projects across the region.

Darden Faculty and Staff Join 2025 United Way Day of Caring

18 September 2025

By Caroline Mackey

More than 50 Darden employees registered to participate in the 2025 United Way Day of Caring on 18 September, joining volunteers across the region for a morning of community service.

Teams worked on landscaping, gardening and cleanup efforts at Greenleaf Park, the PVCC Community Garden, Stony Point Elementary and Virginia Murray School. Others volunteered at Loaves and Fishes, helping sort food donations for local families.

Faculty and staff who stayed on Grounds had the chance to participate as well. A drop-in station in Smith Hall offered employees the opportunity to write short notes of thanks and support to members of the military through Blue Star Families of Virginia.

"Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed their time and talents to elevate our greater community."

Derry Wade, Director of Communications and Shared Services for Darden’s Centers of Excellence

The school’s projects were led by Elizabeth Powell, Jenny Mead, Caitlin Boyer, Tess Ortega, Gina Gellert and Claire Reifsnyder, contributing to a regionwide effort that mobilized thousands of volunteers for one of the area’s largest single days of service.

About the University of Virginia Darden School of Business

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares responsible global leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. Darden’s graduate degree programs (Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA, Executive MBA, MSBA and Ph.D.) and Executive Education & Lifelong Learning programs offered by the Darden School Foundation set the stage for a lifetime of career advancement and impact. Darden’s top-ranked faculty, renowned for teaching excellence, inspires and shapes modern business leadership worldwide through research, thought leadership and business publishing. Darden has Grounds in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., area and a global community that includes 20,000 alumni in 90 countries. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Press Contact

Molly Mitchell
Senior Associate Director, Editorial and Media Relations
Darden School of Business
University of Virginia
MitchellM@darden.virginia.edu