Community Outreach
Day of the Dozer is Back!
Day of the Dozer. On August 27th, the Day of the Dozer was held at the Interstate Center in Bloomington. This unique event provides an opportunity for kids and their families to see heavy construction equipment in action and to let kids "move dirt" with an experienced Stark operator. The proceeds benefited Stay 4, a program designed to identify, help and retain students who demonstrate the ability to succeed, yet are at risk of dropping out of high school. Upon completion of the Stay 4 criteria, high school graduation, enrollment in a trade school, community college or four year university, students are awarded a minimum $1,000 grant from Great Plains Life Foundation to support their continuing efforts. About 1,008 children attended the Day of the Dozer and the event raised $16,039 to benefit the Great Plains Life Foundation "Stay 4" program. Special thanks go to Stark operators, employees and family members who setup, volunteered the day of the event and helped clean up. A sincere thank you goes out to Stark event coordinator, Karrie Hilt, and co-chair, Amy Bowen.
Santa House at Uptown Normal
The Santa house was a real community effort. Uptown businesses donated funds and materials, laborers framed the structure, Duane Demay did the finish work, Dave Burnison painted all the figurines, and Stark donated the labor and equipment to move the Santa House to the Uptown Transportation Plaza in Normal for the Christmas season. There was no admission for children to come see Santa Clause and all money donated went to the Special Olympics.
St. Jude
Many Stark employees gathered on November 23, 2013 to walk together to show support for St. Jude and to honor Sam Birsa and his fight with cancer. Stark employees donated $3,742.98.
Brock Lake Baseball Field, Diamond #1
Mike Carithers with Catalyst Construction contacted Stark Excavating last year and was looking for help to complete a project for the Mackinaw Recreation Board, whose sole responsibility is to provide recreational opportunities to the youth of Mackinaw and surrounding areas. The project consisted of providing infield mix and regrading a ball diamond. Mark Yoder, Brandon Schmidgall, Tim Freitag, and Mike Smith all donated their time while Stark Excavating donated sand and equipment for the project. Mike Carithers states "Stark's volunteer efforts were greatly appreciated and the work completed on the diamond has greatly reduced the amount of rain-outs and cancelled games." Thanks to our fellow employees who volunteered their time on this project.
Day of the Dozer is Big Success
On August 23, 2014, the Final Day of the Dozer was held at the Interstate Center in Bloomington. Day of the Dozer provides McLean County kids and their families with their own unique theme park for the day. In "Dozer Land", a construction site becomes a place for kids and their families to explore the fascinating world of heavy construction equipment, with opportunities to see the equipment in action and ride their favorites. All services are volunteered and proceeds raised from the event benefit the Community Cancer Center Foundation.
In addition to Stark Excavating's donations to this event, including use of several pieces of heavy equipment, many Stark employees and their families also volunteered throughout the day. Stark employees generously and tirelessly donated their time to provide skilled operation of the heavy equipment, which allowed over 980 children the opportunity to experience the excitement of operating equipment firsthand.
