Dayton volunteers his leadership to make life better for the less fortunate. Initially, he was the leader of a committee to build Celebration Station, a community playground at one of the most disadvantaged grade schools in the county. He assembled over 3,000 volunteers and raised $165,000 for materials to accomplish this.
Next he founded the local Christmas-in-April Charleston home rebuilding organization. This is an affiliate of a national group, Rebuilding Together, but is very much a local organization. Again the dream was to serve the less fortunate, this time by allowing them to live in their own homes after they have been made warm, safe, and dry.
Dayton has led the volunteer recruitment, fund raising, and other promotion for this program. Over the last 6 years the program has raised donations and grants of over $700,000 in cash and donated materials. Over 6,000 volunteers have provided the labor to repair about 150 homes in the greater Charleston WV area. Recently Dayton has led the organization to function more efficiently through better cooperation with other volunteer housing organizations such as Habitat for Humanity.
In addition, Dayton is currently involved as a leader in an effort to make the low-income and drug- and crime-ridden West Side neighborhood of Charleston a better place to live, work and shop. This will be a long term activity, but as he brings volunteer links with other organizations, it is a battle that will be won. Dayton's strong spirit and faith that "it can be done" is key to many organizations here in Charleston that serve the less advantaged. There are many folks who will help out when asked or given the opportunity. But someone has to set up the infrastructure to make this happen. There is not a lot of flashy recognition for this work, but his dreams and leadership allow the rest of us to put our skill and sweat to work helping others.
Dayton does this volunteer work while doing his "paid job", managing the local offices of Thrasher Engineering. He has been recognized for his innovative approaches to municipal waste water treatment. He is a true "volunteer hero" who does it all on his own time.
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