Recipients reap benefits of United Way's anniversary

It hardly seems possible that, on Oct. 6, Centre County United Way Day of Caring will be 12 years old. This blanketing of the county with improvement projects and eager volunteers has grown continuously since its inception.

With generous sponsorship from PNC Bank, we began modestly with cleanup, paint-up, fix-up projects limited to United Way member agencies. As more people heard about this event and wanted to help, we expanded the types of eligible organizations to include non-member United Way agencies as well as historical sites, parks and municipal properties.

This year again, because the need is still there, we will expand our range of projects to include the families of our valiant military personnel who are deployed in conflicts anywhere in the world. We were able to assist several families last year, and we feel it is appropriate and just a small way we can say "thank you" to those who are defending our American way of life. And nothing could be more American than neighbors helping neighbors.

The 12th annual PNC Bank United Way Day of Caring will begin as it has for the past 11 years, with a pancake breakfast generously sponsored by Penn State's JAVA Company at the IST Building on the Penn State campus. Volunteers from all walks of life, from companies throughout Centre County as well as Penn State, will assemble on the Penn State campus to share fellowship and hot food.

By 9 a.m., they will arrive at their assigned projects and spend up to six hours raking leaves, painting indoors and outdoors, making general repairs, putting on new roofs, cleaning up garden areas and putting down fresh mulch, and doing small construction jobs.

Volunteers will be presented with certificates of appreciation and Day of Caring T-shirts at each work site. Hundreds of photographs taken that day are used to produce a calendar commemorating the day.

Day of Caring would not be possible without the additional support of companies throughout Centre County who provide materials, technical assistance and food at the various sites.

We have every reason to be proud of our PNC Bank Day of Caring here in Centre County. It has grown into one of the largest in the U.S. for communities our size. We not only have hundreds of adult volunteers from Penn State and the community, we also have thousands of student volunteers from Penn State and all five school districts.

From the beginning, the PNC Bank Day of Caring has been blessed with the leadership of my co-coordinators Brent Pasquinelli and Bill Thomas, who coordinates all the projects in Bellefonte, Honorary Chairwoman Sue Paterno and a dedicated team of individual project coordinators.

We look forward to another successful Day of Caring on Oct. 6 and encourage all military families to let us help with small household projects. Anyone interested in helping or submitting projects should call 238-2941 or e-mail DayOfCaring@ccunitedway.org.

Col. Gerald Russell has served as Day of Caring co-chairman with D. Brent Pasquinelli since the event's inception 12 years ago. Prior to that, Russell served 31 years with the Marines and worked in administration at Penn State. For more information on the Centre County United Way, visit www.ccunitedway.org.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.