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While some Rogue Valley teenagers were likely sleeping in Saturday, others spent the morning doing their part to make local nonprofits a little nicer. Sixteen-year-old Shawna Hyatt and her dad, Michael Hyatt of White City, were among more than 350 volunteers of all ages who pitched in as part of the United Way of Jackson County’s 22nd annual Day of Caring. The Hyatts spent their morning at Hearts with a Mission, helping the nonprofit homeless youth shelter by wielding paintbrushes and making sure they hadn’t missed any spots of coffee-brown paint on a spruced-up shed. Elsewhere at the Hearts with a Mission site, which was among 13 nonprofits helped as part of the Rogue Valley’s largest team-based volunteer event of the year, helpers from Columbia Distributing and Moss Adams did landscaping and put together four picnic tables. It was Shawna’s first time helping her dad as part of the United Way event, but it wasn’t the Eagle Point High School sophomore’s first foray into the giving of her time. She said she’s logged more than 10 hours helping a little boy with cancer, and described volunteering as a way she can do her part to make her world better. “You hear all this bad stuff in the news,” she said, adding that her heart goes out to struggling people. “You want people to be happy.” Her dad, who volunteered through his work at Columbia Distributing, beamed with pride. “Start ‘em young,” he said. St. Mary’s seventh-grader Charlie Heim spent Saturday with a paint roller at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Medford, giving a fresh coat of paint to entryways and an interview room. Heim was helping his dad, Tim Heim, a branch manager at Banner Bank in Eagle Point. The Heims were among 14 people affiliated with the bank who helped the nonprofit agency that is focused on investigating and providing early aid in child abuse cases. Local Banner Bank branches have been helping the Children’s Advocacy Center for more than 20 years, according to Banner Bank Regional Manager Monica Clayton, who also spent 15 years on the agency’s board. Clayton said the Children’s Advocacy Center tries to provide a home-like environment for children who are still reeling from severe forms of abuse. Along with interview rooms furnished like living rooms, a fresh coat of paint is a way to make the space feel more welcoming. “Things we never want to know or see — they do it,” Clayton said. United Way Executive Director Dee Anne Everson said the paint work has real value. “If nonprofits had to pay for all that interior painting, it’d be in the thousands of dollars,” Everson said. The 13 projects Saturday involved more than just paint. The Family Nurturing Center in Phoenix got a new playground structure, Addictions Recovery Center in Medford got a new pergola, and Phoenix Counseling Center got a new meditation garden, according to Everson. “Community volunteers gave up their Saturday to say, ‘Hey, this community cares about you,’ ” Everson said. Kids Unlimited got a “peace path” using mosaic tiles with messages such as “peace,” “cool” and “grow” made by students at the charter school, then laid out with the help of more than a dozen U.S. Bank volunteers, who finished the job by 11:30 a.m. Kids Unlimited visual arts teacher Adrienne Barona wrote the grant that covered materials to make raised wooden planters and paint them royal blue. Barona said the garden area will help science teachers teach fifth-graders how to water plants, among other basic gardening skills. She envisions that an outdoor seating area near the peace path will be a “peaceful place to resolve conflict.” “We have a lot of dedicated teachers who already work overtime,” said Barona, adding that she has 400 art students. “It was just one less thing for us to worry about.” Grants involved in Day of Caring were valued at $22,000, Everson said. Her ballpark estimate for labor was “probably around $25,000,” though actual hour counts won’t be available until next week. Everson said Day of Caring has drawn from 300 to 400 volunteers every year since 1996. “That is a lot of volunteers giving a lot of time,” Everson said. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.