WAVERLY, IOWA ~ There are a lot of ways to tell someone you care.
Sometimes you say it.
Sometimes you write a check.
And sometimes, you show up in an old pair of jeans, grab a paintbrush, pull some weeds, sort a pile of donations or tackle a job that somebody else simply hasn’t had enough hands to finish.
On Friday, September 11, 2026, Waverly and surrounding communities will once again do a whole lot of that.
The Waverly~Shell Rock Area United Way Day of Caring brings together more than 400 local volunteers annually to tackle more than 50 projects throughout the area.
Businesses and employees, schools and students, community leaders and residents join forces on projects benefiting the city, schools, nonprofit organizations, and low-income and elderly homeowners.
The jobs aren’t necessarily glamorous.
There may be landscaping to do.
Something may need painting.
Donations may need organizing.
And somewhere, there is undoubtedly a job that has been sitting on somebody’s we’ll~get~to~that~eventually list for far too long.
For one day, “eventually” arrives.
And that’s what makes Day of Caring something worth talking about.
Many Hands Make a Community
The day begins with a kickoff breakfast from 8 to 8:45 a.m., followed by a morning volunteer shift from 9 a.m. to noon. Lunch is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m., with an afternoon volunteer shift from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
The Day of Caring schedule also includes Wartburg College’s We Care Day of Service & Remembrance, continuing the day’s emphasis on service throughout the community.
But perhaps the most impressive number isn’t 400 volunteers.
And it isn’t 50 projects.
It’s one day.
One day in which hundreds of people decide that somebody else’s job, somebody else’s organization, somebody else’s school, somebody else’s neighborhood, and sometimes somebody else’s struggle matters enough to become theirs for a few hours.
That’s community.
Not the kind printed on a welcome sign along the highway.
The kind wearing work gloves.
Caring Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated
There’s something else tucked inside Day of Caring that may be worth carrying home after the paintbrushes are washed and the work gloves come off.
Doing good doesn’t always require doing something enormous.
Sometimes a person just needs another set of hands.
A few hours.
A little muscle.
Someone willing to show up.
Waverly-Shell Rock Area United Way’s service area includes Waverly, Shell Rock, Janesville, Denver, Readlyn, Tripoli, Sumner, Plainfield and Clarksville.
And on September 11, hundreds of people will demonstrate something small towns have understood for generations:
When everybody grabs a corner, even the heavy things get a little easier to carry.
Now that’s a Day of Caring.
Information, schedules and event details are subject to change. Check with Waverly-Shell Rock Area United Way for the most current Day of Caring information.
Deliverance Hope ~ word-round-town.com
Keep Goin’ ‘Round Town
There’s always another story waiting just around the corner.