More than 600 volunteers were expected to take part in the event, which began Thursday and continued Friday.
The Friday kickoff breakfast at Topeka Social, 518 S.E. Adams St., was scheduled to include recorded remarks from Nancy Perry as well as the presentation of the 2025 Ad Astra Volunteer Honors.
Following breakfast, volunteers will travel to their work sites across the Topeka area.
Those sites included:
- SENT Inc., 455 S.E. Golf Park Blvd., where volunteers will be helping to clean, organize, and stock pantry shelves with food and personal items, as well as helping to build raised garden beds outdoors.
- The Topeka Zoo, 635 S.W. Gage Blvd., where teams will help decorate for the fifth year of Zoo Lights.
- Topeka Rescue Mission Ministries, 401 N.W. Norris Ave., where volunteers will help with cleaning various rooms and areas; creating Certificates of Completion for classes sponsored by the Topeka Rescue Mission; and cleaning street outreach vehicles.
- TARC Inc., 2701 S.W. Randolph Ave., where volunteers will assist with wrapping displays with lights for Winter Wonderland, making thank you gifts for TARC’s sponsors and some landscaping and cleaning tasks.
According to a news release, the United Way of Kaw Valley serves as a community convenor, volunteer organizer, grant maker and strategic partner for the nonprofit sector in Shawnee, Douglas, Jackson and Jefferson counties in northeast Kansas.
Donor dollars are invested locally and support a broad range of initiatives that benefit the whole family through areas including Youth Opportunity, Healthy Community, Financial Security and Community Resiliency.
For more information, visit www.uwkawvalley.org .
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