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Brandon Matthews has big performance at Furman Intercollegiate

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Larksville police chief hand-delivers ‘welcome’ letter to suspected drug/prostitution house

Show you care.For one day next month, put aside your normal routine and join the United Way of Wyoming Valley&#8217;s massive volunteer mobilization effort called Day of Caring. Organizers of the May 14 event aim to dispatch more than 800 people to nonprofit programs that serve Luzerne County, generating an unprecedented burst of good will and muscle power to improve the community.You can sign up individually or as part of a team. You and a band of fellow coworkers, for example, could register to help the Child Development Center&#8217;s instructors while they conduct a children&#8217;s activity. Elsewhere, people are asked to pitch in by painting faded walls, planting flowers, cleaning vehicles, building things, sprucing up playgrounds and otherwise lending a few hours of their labor.The annual event drew 700-plus volunteers last year; their donated hours were calculated to be worth about $95,000, according to the United Way&#8217;s estimate. For more than 20 years, Day of Caring has given people in the Greater Wyoming Valley an outlet to demonstrate their pride in this place. An added bonus for some: It&#8217;s an opportunity to break the normal 9-to-5 grind.Slots remain unfilled for several of this year&#8217;s projects.As of Thursday morning, the Day of Caring online registration site indicated these were among the programs still requesting volunteers:&#8226; Swoyersville Recreation Board. Twenty-seven more people are needed at the borough&#8217;s Tripp Street park. Tasks include raking leaves, painting play equipment, spreading mulch and otherwise beautifying the park.&#8226; Luzerne County Head Start&#8217;s Edwardsville location. Four people are asked to help clean classrooms and playgrounds.&#8226; Child Development Council&#8217;s site on South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre. Eight people are needed to paint a hallway and spruce up the building&#8217;s exterior by planting flowers.&#8226; Family Service Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania in Wilkes-Barre. Three volunteers are needed to remove the agency&#8217;s faded window signs and repaint the names and logos.&#8226; YMCA Camp Kresge near White Haven. Sixteen people are needed to build wooden decks attached to the camp&#8217;s new modular buildings.&#8226; Children&#8217;s Service Center in Wilkes-Barre. Four people are needed to wash agency vehicles and clean the vehicles&#8217; interiors.&#8226; The Lands at Hillside Farms, Shavertown. Seven more people are needed for gardening, log-splitting and general cleanup.&#8226; Wyoming Valley Children&#8217;s Association in Forty Fort. Four people are asked to help sanitize play equipment.To all those volunteers who choose to participate in this event, or who find other ways to strengthen our community, thank you.

Our Opinion: Be part of ‘Day of Caring’ – the Wyoming Valley’s massive volunteer effort in May