Duquesne Light employee Kathy Comis had plenty of reasons to look forward to the United Way Day of Caring community service project on Sept. 12.

For the past three years, Comis has coordinated the participation of company volunteers in a game day for stroke survivors hosted by the Visiting Nurses Foundation. During that time, she's seen a special bond develop between the volunteers and survivors who attend the event on an annual basis.

"It's become like welcoming your family," Comis said. "The volunteers remember the stroke survivors and they remember us. You can really tell how happy they are to see you. Everyone just picks up where they left off from last year, with people catching up on each other's lives."

An Aliquippa native, Comis learned during this year's event at FunFest in Harmarville that one of the stroke survivors also had grown up in the Beaver County community. "It turned out that my parents bought her parents' house," she said. "Her mother also was my art teacher in school."

More than 60 Duquesne Light volunteers took part in this year's Day of Caring. Besides the Visiting Nurses Foundation event, company participants spent the day at four sites:

• Bradley Center in Robinson Township, where they dodged the raindrops to weed flowerbeds and other landscaped areas.
• Circle C Youth and Family Services in Bellevue, where they helped to clean inside at the facility.
• Intersection social service agency in McKeesport, where they served meals and helped with repair work.
• Weinberg Village Assisted Living and Council Care Adult Day Care in Squirrel Hill, where they assisted with crafts and a party for residents.

At FunFest, stroke survivors had the opportunity to bowl, play board games and make crafts. "They really couldn't say enough about Duquesne Light and how nice it was for the company to let employees take part in the Day of Caring," Comis said.

Following are photographs of company volunteers taken during this year's event: