By Renee Worthing
Staff Writer
Despite the rain, more than 1,000 volunteers fanned out across York County during the United Way’s 13th annual Day of Caring on June 4.
Day of Caring Coordinator Mimi Mills said York County first hosted the event in 1996 with 202 volunteers working on 25 projects.
This year, 1,025 volunteers from more than 65 schools and businesses volunteered their time with 45 nonprofit agencies throughout York County.
United Way President and Chief Executive Officer Kathryn Davis said the turn out was “better than Portland.”
“I’m really jazzed,” Davis said.
She said she was impressed so many people volunteered their time to build, paint, pull weeds, plant, clean and renovate throughout York County.
“People are so stressed, but they are showing their generosity with volunteering,” she said.
The New School in Kennebunk was not only a beneficiary of the day, but a participant as well.
Administrative Assistant Janet Perry said volunteers from York County Community College were working on greenhouses and preparing the way for a new driveway.
“They are out there with a wood chipper and a backhoe,” Perry said. “It’s really something.”
She said about 28 New School students spent the day out of the classroom lending a hand at Truslow Adult Day Care Center in Saco where they painted a mural. Other students were building a new stall at Ever After Mustang Ranch in Biddeford and another group built bike racks at the Community Bicycle Center in Biddeford.
At Equest Therapeutic Riding Center in Lyman, owner Sarah Armentrout said about seven volunteers helped clear a quarter-mile trail through the woods. They cut trees, cleared brush, raked and put wood chips down.
The trail will provide a “sensory rich experience” with simple activities along the way for riders with physical, cognitive or emotional disabilities.
“Day of Caring started the trail blazing efforts,” Armentrout said.
She said the project probably would not be completed in one day, but “they gave us a jump start.”
  Armentrout said Equest has benefited from Day of Caring for more than five years.
At the York County Food Rescue warehouse on Jagger Mill Road in Sanford, about a dozen volunteers from Shaw’s Warehouse in Wells cleaned offices, assembled shelves and performed carpentry work.
Standing on a ladder, George Lee replaced the frame of a doorway, raising it about six inches to allow the forklift easier access while Rob Griffin, Doug Dodge, David Bissonnette and Eric Lofgren bolted shelf braces to the concrete floor and assembled the shelving units donated by Shaw’s.
A group of women moved desks and furniture in the office space and scrubbed the walls.