The annual United Way Day of Caring is Wednesday when volunteers will make improvements to 73 homes in Kosciusko County.
Homes in Kosciusko County that will receive improvements include six in Etna Green, 14 in Mentone, eight in Milford, 17 inside the Warsaw city limits; 17 outside the Warsaw city limits; five in Leesburg; three in Winona Lake and three in Burket.
Volunteers will work on the homes from 8 a.m. to 5:30. There will be a reflection ceremony of the day at 6:30 p.m. in Winona Lake at the Hillside Amphitheatre.
The committee for the 2012 United Way Day of Caring is United Way of Kosciusko County, Housing Opportunities of Warsaw, Kosciusko Senior Services, Grace College and DePuy.
There are approximately 836 volunteers from businesses and contractors that will be working on the homes, according to Pam Kennedy, Housing Opportunities of Warsaw executive director.
This year, Day of Caring volunteers are focusing on veterans and widows of veterans that are in need of housing repairs, to honor them for their sacrifices they made to the country.
There are 19 families who are veterans or widows of vets who will receive home repairs.
Each of the veteran homes where work will be done will be identified with an American flag in their yard alongside the Day of Caring sign.
Housing Opportunities partnered with Energize Indiana, a residential energy assistance program, for this year.
There will be 26 homes in Mentone that will receive an energy assesment where the homes with the largest energy loss will be fixed.
The homeowners also will receive shower heads that will reduce their water usage and energy-saving light bulbs.
There are four families in Mentone qualified to receive energy audits and their homes will receive insulation and air sealing.
The program is available to anyone in Kosciusko County that has NIPSCO for their electrical provider.
Housing Opportunities of Warsaw will receive $25 for each family that participates in the program, which will provide funds to improve disabled, elderly and low-income families’ homes in Kosciusko County.
