Across the 40 towns of central and northeastern Connecticut, more than 5,500 employees from local workplaces Lived United by helping local nonprofit organizations complete a variety of projects on United Way Day of Caring XVIII, held September 11th. Their annual gift of time and effort serves as a fitting kickoff for the United Way Community Campaign, which raises resources to help ensure that year after year, despite hard times, health and human service programs continue to be available to the people of our 40 towns.

Everyone has something to give! Let’s keep the United Way Day of Caring can-do spirit alive. Please give generously through the United Way Community Campaign..

Above, left to right: Aetna employees stuff envelopes at March of Dimes in Manchester; Cigna employees unload computers at Our Piece of the Pie's OPPortunity High School in Hartford; and Hamilton Sundstrand and other volunteers celebrate a day of hard work at the Mandell Jewish Community Center in West Hartford.

Above, left to right: 2009 United Way Community Campaign Co-Chair Shaun Mathews of ING Investment Management stuffs goodie bags with ING employees at the Hartford Marathon Foundation, Inc., in East Hartford; a Northeast Utilities System employee hauls wood at the Connecticut Rivers Council Boy Scouts' J. N. Webster Scout Reservation in Ashford; and an Otis Elevator Company employee paints the walls at Boys & Girls Club of New Britain.

Above, left to right: A volunteer from Permatex an Illinois Toolworks Company paints at Central Connecticut ARC in New Britain; Pratt & Whitney volunteers and their families prepare food at Manchester Area Conference of Churches in Manchester; an employee of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., plants flowers at Community Health Resources in Enfield; and a volunteer from The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company fixes outdoor furniture at the Girl Scouts of Connecticut, Inc.'s, Yankee Trails camp in Tolland.

Above, left to right: A Stanley Works employee cleans up at Klingberg Family Centers in New Britain; Travelers volunteers paint a porch at the Hartford Conservatory in Hartford; volunteers from United Technologies Corporation pause during a painting project at Camp Horizons in South Windham; and a UTC Fire & Security employee cleans up logs at Girl Scouts of Connecticut, Inc.'s Camp Laurel in Lebanon.