On the first two Saturdays in April, roughly 100 members of the National Honor Society (NHS) at Penn Manor High School (PMHS) participated in the second annual Day of Caring. Groups of student volunteers set out to pick up litter and clean community spaces such as local parks, working with various township officials and schools throughout the Penn Manor area.

On April 6, about 50 students collected garbage, tree branches and fallen leaves as they weeded the sidewalks surrounding the PMHS track and field. The volunteers also organized storage spaces for athletic equipment near the school gym. Other students removed litter from the Little Conestoga Creek, the Enola Rail Trail and various parks in Manor Township. Another group of volunteers visited Central Manor Elementary School to weed its garden and prepare the garden beds for planting. According to Manor Township's public works director, Mark Harris, PMHS students collected more than 1,300 pounds of trash throughout the day, including 13 tires.

On April 13, a second team of roughly 50 students placed wood chips on the rail trail in Martic Township, in addition to sanding and repainting the trail's wooden benches. Students also reconstructed rock borders and painted over graffiti. Other groups of NHS volunteers cleaned up parking lots at PMHS, labeled plant signs in Central Elementary School's gardens and helped move furniture for the nonprofit Off The Streets, an organization based in Lancaster city that helps individuals who are experiencing homelessness find permanent housing.

The first Day of Caring at PMHS was organized last spring by NHS adviser Catherine Tejada, who said the event was modeled after United Way's annual Day of Caring. Previously, PMHS seniors and members of NHS participated in the United Way event, but the school wanted to introduce its own version to hold in the spring, as the original Day of Caring takes place every fall. "It's been a really nice way for our students to work in the community. Seniors and juniors have really loved participating," added Tejada.

Although this is Tejada's final year as an NHS adviser at PMHS, she said the club hopes to continue the annual tradition of cleaning up the community. "(The Day of Caring) gives students an opportunity to get together with their friends while also feeling like they're making a difference," said Tejada. "It was quite an undertaking planning-wise, but the second year went really well."