Nearly 600 volunteers worked on dozens of projects around town on Sunday as part of the sixth annual "Day of Caring."
Steve Patton did his part by scrubbing an oven rack.
Mindy Culley contributed by folding and sorting sheets.
And Laura Brunow rolled on some fresh paint as her allocation.
They weren't pretty jobs, but nearly 600 volunteers spent a couple of hours doing them Sunday as part of the sixth annual "Day of Caring."
"I would characterize it as an overwhelming success," said Andre Bollaert, manager of the Roger Hill Volunteer Center and coordinator of the "Day of Caring."
The event is held as a kickoff for the United Way of Douglas County's annual fund drive.
With the day came the news from Jeff Weinberg, chairman of this year's drive, that "pacesetter" companies had raised $180,000 toward the $1.353 million United Way goal.
"Pacesetter" companies are those that hold their United Way fund drives early.
"This is exciting news," Weinberg said of the early figure. "It has set the tone, we hope."
Bollaert said 586 volunteers worked on 54 projects around town, including painting, sorting food pantries, clearing out brush, and adding mulch for flower beds at schools and social service agencies.
About half of the volunteers were Kansas University students. Others were members of businesses and civic groups.
"It's a chance to give back a little time and effort to the community," said Patton, a merchandising employee at Payless Shoesource.
He and about 40 others were cleaning and organizing materials at the Salvation Army, 946 N.H.
"This gets you out in the community," said Brunow, a freshman at KU. "I didn't know much about the social service agencies in Lawrence until this."
"This is a great help -- we get a lot of our maintenance done," said Lt. Kirk Schuetz, corps officer and pastor of the Lawrence Salvation Army. "They come in, they're willing to work, and they get a lot done."
Jeneal Krehbiel, a vocal music teacher at Southwest Junior High School, was helping a group of people revamp bushes and lay mulch at New York School, 936 N.Y.
"I think it helps people take ownership in the community," she said. "I know that when we drive by places where we've worked, we remember how we helped make it better."
One of Sunday's major projects was at Wells Overlook Park south of Lawrence, where about 60 volunteers picked up trash and cleared out overgrown plant material.
"It was a massive cleanup," Bollaert said.
-- Michael Dekker's phone message number is 832-7187. His e-mail address is mdekker@ljworld.com.
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