VESTAL, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – Over 480 volunteers from local organizations spent Friday and Saturday out of their offices, working on 40 different community projects.

The United Way of Broome County held its annual Day of Caring event.

The Day of Caring started in 2002 as a remembrance to honor those impacted by 9/11.

Delta Engineers worked on one of the many projects up at the Kopernik Observatory and Science Center.

The volunteers were asked to lay a whole new layer of wood chips on the playground, paint picnic tables, tighten screws on the equipment, and do some gardening and weeding.

The Human Resource Coordinator for Delta, Beth Blinn says that although it’s a day of manual labor, she enjoys being out of the office and making a difference.

Beth Blinn, the Human Resource Coordinator with Delta Engineers says, “The different disciplines that we have at Delta, and everybody can come together outside of work and just do something fun. It’s not sitting at our desks all day and we’re helping the community which brings us all, in a different way, back together. And we get to experience each other, we get to laugh and have a good time.”

Blinn says that 18-20 volunteers from Delta participated in this year’s Day of Caring.

United Way is also hosting a hygiene drive to benefit those who face homelessness.

The drive runs until September 30th and you can drop items off at its office, at 101 South Jensen Road in Vestal.

United Way is looking for supplies such as body wash, deodorant, feminine products, underwear, soap, and more.

Visit UWBroome.org to find out more.