United Way Day of Caring to Aid Schools, Charities

More than 2,000 volunteers are expected to pitch in Saturday to improve conditions for the working poor by helping at charities and schools across the county, including 23 in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

Volunteers will paint walls and fences, plant and clean gardens, fill in murals and lend a hand to charities during the ninth annual Day of Caring sponsored by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

Participants will gather at 8 a.m. at central meeting sites, then board buses to job locations. Area meeting sites include the Los Angeles Times Valley Edition facility in Chatsworth, Hyatt Hotel in Valencia and the Antelope Valley Mall in Palmdale.

Charities in the San Fernando Valley that will benefit include the Paul Weston Center, Bridge Focus, Meeting Each Need with Dignity (MEND), Pacific Lodge Youth Services and YWCA Glendale.

Three sites will be improved in the Santa Clarita Valley, including Pamplico Park in Saugus, where volunteers will plant trees, and at 15 sites in the Antelope Valley.

The program is designed to give a “hand-up,” rather than a handout, to the working poor, said Joseph Haggerty, president of United Way of Greater Los Angeles.