The United Way of Mower County’s eighth annual Day of Caring will kick off with an 8 a.m. breakfast in Austin High School cafeteria on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Day of Caring is a day for the community to help neighbors complete projects they are otherwise not able to do themselves. Mandi Lighthizer-Schmidt, executive director of the United Way of Mower County, is thrilled about this year’s event.

“Day of Caring is such a great event for everyone from the homeowner to the volunteer to the community as a whole,” she said. “We continue to receive project requests and team registrations. It’s shaping up to be another great day.”

Teams range from one to 21 people. After the kickoff breakfast, volunteers go to their project sites. Most will be done within two hours. Mark Bjorlie has made personal visits to all project sites to estimate time and volunteers needed to complete the projects. Donut Connection, Austin Public Schools, Games People Play and KIMT-TV have all donated toward Day of Caring.