Hundreds of Volunteers Transform Carlsbad During United Way Day of Caring

By R. Gabriel Villalobos

More than 300 volunteers fanned out across Carlsbad and Eddy County this week for United Way’s annual Day of Caring, tackling 19 projects ranging from painting a massive mural to picking up trash and remodeling nonprofit buildings.

The one-day blitz brought together oil and gas workers from the city and county, along with crews from Artesia, for a shared mission: leave the community better than they found it.

For Meghan Mooney of Mewbourn Oil Company, the event has become a tradition. Her company has participated for three straight years, sending about 20 volunteers each time.

“Wherever they need us, that’s where we go,” Mooney said. “We always ask for a project that’s going to take a good amount of time or need some attention to detail because we do have so many people out here.”

This year, that project was the C-hill observatory structure, which volunteers transformed with fresh paint and detailed artwork. By mid-morning, Mooney’s crew had already applied two coats, torn off the tape, and finished the lines.

The mural itself came together through a year of planning between artist Jesse Melanson and the Keep Carlsbad Beautiful committee. Melanson, who operates as JMELART, was discovered after Mary Garwood spotted one of his murals in Hobbs and reached out through his website.

“She showed me pictures of C-hill and said she wanted to paint the structure,” Melanson recalled. “I said, ‘The whole structure?’ She said, ‘Yeah, the whole structure.’ I said, ‘All right, let’s go.’”

Melanson, who lives in Truckee, CA, near Lake Tahoe, typically works with committees on story-based, community-driven art. But he had never worked with so many helping hands.

“This is a pretty deep crew, which is great because they got a lot done really quickly,” he said. “It’s something I could definitely get used to.”

It was his first visit to Carlsbad, and he came away impressed.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the hills and the different cacti and then the river downtown,” he said. “It’s just really beautiful.”

For Walker Brown, a production foreman at Permian Resources, the Day of Caring was a first. Brown moved to Carlsbad from Wyoming in March after working in the area for four years.

“It’s kind of my home away from home for a lot of years, and I kind of started taking pride in the way it looks,” Brown said. “I think all these projects do a really good thing for the community, especially in Happy Valley.”

Brown’s crew helped clean up Happy Valley about a month ago, and he said the difference was noticeable.

“It’s wonderful, and it’s a blessing to all of us,” he said. “We’re more than thrilled to be here and be a part of this.”

Mooney said the event offers more than just physical improvements. It gives newcomers a chance to connect with their adopted home.

“You have some employees who have moved here from away, and they get to see pieces of the community that make it feel more like home,” she said. “Every time you get together with groups like this, and you do a project together, you meet new people.”

As a transplant herself, Mooney said the Day of Caring has always made Carlsbad feel like home.

“When you get to see it before and after and know that’s going to make an impact on the community when people drive by, it makes a difference for sure,” she said.

Projects included playground equipment, remodeling, fence painting, murals, and trash cleanup. Mooney said picking up trash is always part of the effort.

“We always try to leave it better than we found it,” she said.

Melanson, meanwhile, has a busy schedule ahead. After Carlsbad, he heads to Austin, TX, briefly, then to San Pablo, CA, for a large project. More work awaits in Reno, NV, before winter.

But for one day in Carlsbad, he stood alongside dozens of volunteers, watching a blank structure become a colorful piece of community art.

“Everyone’s been absolutely wonderful,” he said. “Carlsbad is cool. It’s a beautiful piece of desert out here.”