Hundreds of volunteers turn out for United Way’s 2026 Day of Caring

Published 3:57 pm Friday, June 5, 2026

QUINCY — “It matters, what you did today.”

That was the message United Way of Adams County Executive Director Jenna Hull delivered to the volunteers gathered in Quincy’s Clat Adams Park Friday afternoon.

Hull’s address was part of the wrap-up for the 2026 United Way Day of Caring event. While Friday’s morning rain shifted some of the teams from outdoor projects, the roughly 250 volunteers helped around 20 local organizations with everything from sorting rummage sale donations to landscaping.

“This means so much to all of us at United Way,” Makayla Buckley said. Buckley is the United Way’s director of Communications and programs. “But also to the volunteers that come out. This is something that they look forward to every year because they get to get out of the office, they get to go to see new places, and learn about new things about the community. Being able to see all of the willingness to come out and help means so much to our staff, and it means a lot to them as well.”

This year saw project collaborations like Phibro Animal Health employees lending a hand at Quanada, local Girl Scouts getting some assistance from Clarity Healthcare’s team, and JM Huber employees helping out Liberty Schools to name just a few.

“We had a few projects that got canceled from the rain, but we just rerouted those volunteers to different projects,” Hull said. “So we didn’t lose any volunteers, we just lost a couple sites we had planned to work.”

The current incarnation of the Day of Caring goes back to it being reborn in 2018, but the program has been around in some form for around a quarter century.

Buckley said a large part of her morning was talking to the organizations that were getting the assistance. She said they were all grateful to have help with tasks they simply hadn’t been able to get to themselves.

“There were so many of them that said this stuff wouldn’t have gotten done if this day didn’t happen,” she said. “One of today’s projects was a church. They have a rummage sale every year, and they said they’ve had bags of clothing that have been donated over the past six years that they haven’t been able to touch before today.”

Buckley said for any employers or individuals that want to contribute for next year’s event, or any organizations that need some assistance, it’s never too early to reach out to her to start planning. She said that there’s a wide variety of tasks that make the list every year, so it can be fun for the volunteers to see what they might be working on.

“The projects are quite varied, and they are also spread out county-wide,” she said. “So it depends on where you’re at, who you’re with, and whatever’s happening on the day. It can be a lot of different things.”

For more information on the Day of Caring and all the projects and events happening under the United Way of Adams County’s umbrella, visit unitedwayadamsco.org.