United Way looking for volunteers.

Each year, United Way of Kitsap County gets volunteers together to help nonprofit and government agencies get work done that would otherwise cost them money, according to Carl Borg, United Way of Kitsap County campaign director.

“We bring in volunteers to do several ‘done-in-a-day’ projects,” he said. “These are projects that these agencies can’t normally get done because they are too big.”

Projects can range from roofing, building, landscaping, painting and other general maintenance work, and this year, cleaning up parks has been added to the list.

“We have a lot of county parks that, because of budget cuts, are going to use the volunteer labor to get the parks cleaned up before they really open,” he said.

Another change for this year is how the volunteers will be matched to their respective jobs.

“In the past we would do it all by paper,” he said. “People would print the forms and mail them in. Then we would spend a day trying to figure out which people go with which projects. This year, when a volunteer goes online, they can actually see the projects available and once they sign up, the agency receives an email from the volunteer and they can then contact that person with details.”

Jamie Osterman, a United Way volunteer, said the new system simplifies the whole process.

“People are actually able to pair themselves up with a project they have skills in,” she said. “Before, we just matched people up and there wasn’t much interaction.”

The day is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 24 at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds President’s Hall with a free continental breakfast, provided by Costco. T-shirts will be given to every volunteer and brown bag lunches will be provided by Harrison Medical Center.

Ted Sadtler, owner of the Mattress Ranch and star of the Mattress Ranch television commercials, will be present as well to give a keynote speech to the crowd.

According to Borg, the United Way is not only looking for more volunteers, but they are also interested in getting more projects.

“We can still use a lot more projects,” he said. “Any nonprofit group like churches or even government agencies.”

Osterman said there also is a need for skilled labor volunteers and the United Way is reaching out to construction workers or anyone else who has trade skills that could be utilized for some of the bigger projects.

Borg expressed his gratitude for the event’s sponsors, including Lockheed Martin, KPS Health Plans, Kitsap County, Rice Fergus Miller Architecture & Planning and Sound Grants.

Persons or groups interested in registering for a project or agencies in need of volunteers are asked to go to www.volunteerkitsap.org.