Volunteering for Day of Service greatly benefits Colorado organizations
Xcel Energy has been organizing a Day of Service for 15 years. It started as a way to invest in the community after the 9/11 attack on the U.S. Over the years, Xcel has added nonprofit partners and partners, and then they opened it up to the entire Colorado community. Now the 1,100 volunteers generate thousands of dollars in economic impact for 45 projects.
"They will all set up on a shift together, and they will contribute in that way. They will work together and find value in that as a team," said Mari Macchi, President & CEO of Project Angel Heart.
Project Angel Heart is a nonprofit organization that runs on volunteer energy. It's mission is to make, package, and distribute nutritionally specific meals to people who are living with chronic illness. The organization has been operating since 1991, and currently serves up 15,000 meals to 2,000 people every week. It needs every bit of volunteer help it can get.
"On Monday nights I chop onions," said Rebecca McCormick, who has been a volunteer at Project Angel Heart for 9-years.
From chopping vegetables to packaging up the meals, to packing grocery bags for deliver, some 400 volunteers work at the organization every week. McCormick said that one of the perks of the job is getting to see the artwork on the grocery bags. Even more volunteers draw and decorate the paper bags that the meals are packed in.
"Some people take pictures of them," McCormick explained.
"We have a lot of volunteers all the way from school children to very elderly people who will just throw their heart and soul into the artwork on those bags," Macchi said.
Macchi says the artwork is an important part of the Project Angel Heart experience.
"Many people are home bound and this is a very social connectiveness strategy that really does seem to brighten their day," she told CBS News Colorado.
Rooopesh Aggarwal is Vice President of Investor Relations at Xcel Energy. He was introduced to Project Angel Heart about 4 years ago during Day of Service. He did a volunteer shift delivering meals.
"What was really interesting is that when you're delivering meals you get to see first hand the impact you make on people," Aggarwal said.
Aggarwal became a volunteer with the organization and now serves on the board. He praised not only the mission of the organization but how well it's run.
"Very rarely in our lives that you have an opportunity to change people's lives. You have a first hand experience in changing the trajectory of a person's life, and that's what you're doing when you volunteer at Project Angel Heart," Aggarwal explained.
Whether it's working on the line in the kitchen or making meaningful art on a grocery bag, every contribution makes a big impact.
LINK: Xcel Energy's Day of Service
Xcel Energy has a couple of Day of Service projects with Project Angel Heart including decorating bags. Day of Service is Friday, September 12 and Saturday, September 13, 2025.