Volunteer your time to in memory of Sept. 11

Unity and giving back will be the focus Friday and Saturday as a couple thousand area residents join together to volunteer.

Giving DuPage's sixth annual DuPage Remembers and Gives: A Day of Volunteerism commemorates the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, by bringing community members together to help not-for-profit organizations.

Businesses, church groups, youth groups, Scout troops and individuals will participate in hands-on projects and collection drives.

This is the first year individuals could register for an event.

Giving DuPage manager Kathy Blair said opening the program up to individuals brought more interested volunteers to the organization.

"We just felt like teams kind of limited those people who might want to get involved who don't have a group," she said. "It makes volunteering as accessible as possible for our community."

Blair also said volunteering is a great way to meet people.

"I think that opening it up to individuals also allows individuals to meet people who are like-minded," she said.

While a handful of groups come back year after year, others are newcomers this time around. Residents will volunteer to assist in clean-up projects, help critically ill children, organize collections and assist with cleaning and painting projects.

Blair's confident the event will be a success.

"It's really interesting because I do have a strong sense that it will be, again, a great year," she said.

"It's always a great sense of belonging to a community that does such great work, and there's this sense of an awe of all the good stuff that's been done in our community."

Going forward, she said the group plans to promote volunteerism even more year-round.

"We've really come to find out, as we talk to businesses, families and schools, that this date might not work for them, but they want to participate," Blair said. "It's not just once a year, and the need does not stop after Christmas or Sept. 11."

She said with the organization's new Web site, people can register to volunteer in projects throughout the year.

"With the Web site, we're hoping that people grow that relationship with the nonprofits and continue to volunteer," she said. "It just makes our world a 24-hour world where you can search at any given time."

For details, call (630) 407-6458 or visit www.givingdupage.org

If you go

Special nature workdays are planned Friday and Saturday in DuPage County forest preserves. These events are part of Giving DuPage's day of volunteerism, planned to commemorate the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Tasks vary. Both individuals and groups may participate. For details, call (630) 933-7681.

• 9 a.m. to noon Friday at Willowbrook Wildlife Haven, 2S101 Park Blvd., Glen Ellyn

• 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Herrick Lake Forest Preserve, Butterfield and Herrick Lake roads, Wheaton

• 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Blackwell Forest Preserve grounds and resources complex on Mack Road, east of Winfield Road, Warrenville