The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

OTTUMWA, IOWA -- The United Way of Wapello County is gearing up for its 13th annual Day of Caring.

The day's purpose is to get donors who partner with the United Way out into the community working with the impact organizations that they donate to. This year's activities will kick off with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. sponsored by the Ottumwa Kiwanis Club. The donors will then gather for a rally and head out to their volunteer projects.

The projects vary from year to year based on the community's needs.

"We have a total of 13 agencies that are participating, 28 projects," said Marie Zoromski, Community Impact Associate with the United Way. "A lot of projects involve painting, organizing, re-organizing, going through old files, purging files. Some of the participants are actually going to get to go out on the Meals on Wheels program and deliver some meals to participants and they'll be working over in the thrift store for the Salvation Army."

This year is the first year that the Meals on Wheels project will be included in the Day of Caring, and Zoromski said it will be great for the donors to see the impact of the project firsthand.

The Day of Action is entirely sponsored by the community, specifically Walmart, Target, Cargill, HyVee North and South, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group of Ottumwa, Kiwanis and the Salvation Army.

Businesses that can't volunteer during work hours can still participate by holding an in-office food drive and they can sign up and get more details on the United Way's volunteer solutions webpage.