What would you do if you had one extra hour on a particular day of the year? Would you take advantage of it and go above and beyond a normal day?

That is essentially the question that the United Way’s National Day of Action poses on Monday.

June 21, also called the Summer Solstice, is the longest day of 2010 with approximately 15 hours of daylight. The sun will rise at 6:03 a.m. and will set at 9:04 p.m.

So, we won’t actually have an extra hour in the day but we will have more daylight than any other day this year.

What do you plan to do?

The United Way is partnering with various groups and working to promote volunteer opportunities so that there is a structure for those looking to make a difference.

“It is important that we all know that the ‘they’ we frequently refer to when something needs to be done is us,” said Laura Gilliam, Executive Director of United Way of the River Cities. “This is just a starting point for local clean up and beautification efforts. It is our hope people will continue these projects throughout the year.”

Initiative include:

Business Owner Participation: Business owners and leaders are encouraged to allow employees to have a longer lunch break on Monday in order to pick up litter and clean up the block around the business.

Adopt Your Block: Neighborhood litter clean up. There are currently 2,193 Adopt Your Block members.

For more information about the opportunities to volunteer for one of these projects contact the United Way office at (304) 523-8929 or liveunited@unitedwayrivercities.org.

Even these few extra minutes of daylight, even a little extra effort, can make all the difference in our communities.