HOLLAND, Mich. — Thousands of volunteers fanned out across the city Wednesday, taking part in Community Impact Day — a grassroots initiative that began in Holland and is now spreading to communities across the country.
From scrubbing and shoveling to sorting supplies, more than 2,000 residents pitched in at 122 locations throughout the city.
“Beyond that, there are 20 other chambers across the country that are doing this, right alongside of us in their communities,” said Jodi Owczarski, president and CEO of the Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce. “What started here in West Michigan, in Holland and Zeeland, were these little ripples of impact, and now it’s spread out across the country and has turned into this positive tidal wave for good."
The chamber started Community Impact Day as part of its leadership program in 2022.
“[There were] 25 people in the class, and they all invited a friend to come,” Owczarski said. “We went from 50 people the first time we did this, to now, there's over 2000.”
Owczarski said the impact grows every year.
“When we put together the projects for the day, we talk about things that organizations and municipalities just don’t have the ability to do with their traditional volunteers or staff,” she said. “We’ve had the city [of Holland] come to us and say certain projects we’ve done have saved them over $100,000 on one project alone. And we repeat that over and over year over year.”
In 2025, Community Impact Day volunteers contributed more than 10,000 hours of service, generating more than $347,000 in value in a single day.
Participants ranged from local business employees to students and nonprofit leaders. Employees from LVZ Financial Planning helped dig out tulips from Window on the Waterfront.
“LVZ, as a member of the community, as an investor in our spaces downtown, it’s really fun to see spaces that we’ve invested in as a firm, like the Ice Park, like the playscape,” said Darlene Kuipers of LVZ Financial Planning. “Taking care of the spaces around it and the community and the businesses that we serve is a key part of why we’re giving back today, and it’s a huge part of our firm’s core values.”
Holland Public Schools fifth grader Ramona Garza joined classmates to help clean the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holland.
“It just feels like good. … It impacts a lot and it just helps,” Garza said. “And I like organizing and cleaning.”
Holland Hospital CEO Patti VanDort and her team spent the day at the assisted living nonprofit My Brother’s House.
“I didn’t even know anything about it until we got assigned to work here,” VanDort said. “And so to learn about what’s happening in our community and think about, hey, how can the hospital play a part, even beyond Community Impact Day. ... The Lakeshore is such a special place, and so to get to be a part of it, it really doesn’t even feel like work. It just feels like about making a difference.”
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