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The Working for Worcester Story

The 10 Year Impact of Working for Worcester
2,000,000
$
Reinvested in the Community
30,000
+
Estimated People Impacted
20
+
Playgrounds Built
Estimates As of April 2022
11 Years of History in Worcester
W4W's humble vision grew to a citywide service day to mobilize everyone from corporations to college students to create these spaces in one giant day of community service and pride.

2012
From Idea to Reality
In the Fall of 2012, Holy Cross junior roommates Jeff Reppucci and Derek Kump decided that they wanted to step outside their campus gates and learn a more about the greater city of Worcester, MA. Thus, the inspiration for W4W was born: Reppucci and Kump launched an organization dedicated to mobilizing college students to improve recreation infrastructure and opportunities within neighborhoods across the city.

2013
Build Day Begins
On the first Build Day, Reppucci and Kump yet assembled close to 540 volunteers across 12 community recreation sites assisting the construction of 2 new playgrounds, 4 new basketball courts, a dance studio, a baseball field, a teen recreation room, a food pantry, a school cafeteria, new walking trails!

2015
Handing Down the Reins
With Reppucci and Kump graduated from Holy Cross, their long distance love for Worcester blossomed. Headed up by Colette Houssan, W4W only grew stronger reinvesting $100,000 into 3 playgrounds, 1 baseball field, 5 basketball hoops, and so much more!

2019
All Grown Up
In 2019, Working for Worcester had evolved into so much more, it had become a day to celebrated across all of the community members! At this point, almost 1.2 million had already been invested into the city of Worcester's recreational infrastructure.

2020
Overcoming Covid-19
With the Managing Team trying to navigate getting sent home from school, Build Day was unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, the team raised $23,240.59 for the Worcester Together COVID-19 emergency response fund!

2021
The "New Normal"
After a year with no playgrounds, Build Day Year 9 was faced with over coming the rapidly evolving Covid-19 pandemic, creating a Covid-Tzar role to monitor health trends. Nonetheless, 2 playground still managed to be built, albeit the smiles covered with masks!

2022
W4W is Back!
With the smiles in full display, Build Day Year 10 marked the first "normal" event in almost three years. With 1,200 cheery volunteers gathered at Worcester City Hall, W4W managed to build it BIGGEST PLAYGROUND EVER!
Reppucci and Kump launched an organization dedicated to mobilizing college students to improve recreation infrastructure and opportunities in neighborhoods across the city.


Former Executive Directors

Year 10 (2022)
Jules Cashman,
Sabrina Ramos
Year 8 (2020)
Karina Ramos,
Liam Shields
Year 6 (2018)
Colleen Naber
Year 4 (2016)
Molly Hourigan,
Brenden Healey
Year 1 and 2 (2013, 2014)
Jeff Reppucci,
Derek Kump
Year 9 (2021)
Liam Busconi
Ian Williamson
Year 7 (2019)
Tommy Nixon,
Lilly Pochintesta,
Gabby Lutz
Year 5 (2017)
Bowen Lee
Year 3 (2015)
Colette Houssan

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