For Heather, volunteering is more than something nice to do in her free time – it’s her career.

As a member of the corporate philanthropy team at HSBC Bank, Heather works with New York Cares to mobilize her employees on revitalization projects in public parks throughout the city, including Hands On New York Day, for which HSBC is the presenting sponsor.

Heather started volunteering with New York Cares as a Site Captain in 2003, and she’s continued to work with us ever since, through her company and on her own. Read more about why Heather volunteers.

Thank you for making Hands On New York Day such a great day of service. 5,000 volunteers spread out all across the city to take advantage of the beautiful weather and work towards a great cause.

Together we weeded, pruned, planted, mulched, painted, and cleaned our way to a greener New York City, revitalizing 69 public spaces and improving the quality of life for millions of residents this spring and summer.

Check out more photos from the day on Facebook as we add to our Hands On New York Day 2010 album.

The Mission Continues team, an organization honoring veterans, spruced up the grounds around the World War I Memorial in Astoria Park to round off their public service activities for National Volunteer Week.

Volunteers digging a new pathway through Hands and Heart Garden in East New York, Brooklyn, under a gorgeous blue sky in preparation for the summer’s crops.

This year for Hands On New York Day we partnered with the NYC Department of Transportation and the Urban Art Program to beautify the city’s streetscapes by painting temporary art installations on Jersey Barriers. In record time, 125 volunteers completed murals along a bike path in Williamsburg that passing cyclists said looked awesome.

We ordered 822 gallons of paint for Hands On New York Day 2010 (enough to cover more than 80,000 square feet of benches, fences, and park houses with a fresh coat!), and volunteers at Tompkins Square Park are doing their part by painting three miles of fence today.

Volunteers strapped on their life vests and waders to remove trash and distribute organic algae growth-inhibiting packs in the lake at Crotona Park in the Bronx.

Ebonie, a New York Cares Junior Committee member, was thrilled to be placed at William Harris Garden today. She grew up just four blocks away and played there as a child, so she’s been looking forward all week to returning to her in her old home turf to volunteer. This is what Hands On New York Day is about: bringing communities together.

It’s 8:30 a.m., and Site Captain Linda Blacken has her work cut out for her setting up rakes, paint, gloves, and other supplies for a dozen projects scheduled throughout Astoria Park today. Over 250 Hands On New York Day volunteers are expected at the park within the hour!

We’re going to have great weather for Hands On New York Day tomorrow. We’ll be blogging and posting photos and updates all day long, so stay tuned to see just how much 5,000 volunteers can accomplish in one day.

If you’re participating, we encourage you to share video clips, photos, and stories about your experience with blog@newyorkcares.org and on Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube.

We’ll need last minute volunteers to fill in at some sites, so if you haven’t signed up and want to volunteer, come to our office by 8:15 a.m. on Saturday, and we’ll provide round-trip bus transportation to a site in need of extra hands.

We hope to see you tomorrow!