A dangerous strain of a never-ending pandemic is causing many to dial back their public appearances. But some brave souls in Butler County deserve to be commended for the volunteer work of which there was an abundance in this week's editions of the Eagle.

Local residents took part in everything from sprucing up Jennings Environmental Education Center's blazing star prairie ecosystem to donating to the county humane society as part of the Betty White Challenge. One group of people gathered to clean up the site of a fire that destroyed a man's mobile home in Connoquenessing Township.

The efforts of all those who have donated their time or money to these efforts should be commended. It's especially noble that people turned out to help amid the rapidly spreading omicron variant.

The Jennings event drew more than 50 volunteers, including Boy Scout troops and residents, to clip hedges at the center's prairie and cut down prairie bush.

Wil Taylor, the center's manager, said the day was a “success.”

“Success is that we see interest from the public to help,” he said. “The real success is getting people out and getting them involved.”

At the humane society, the organization was already halfway to its $20,000 fundraising goal earlier this week as part of its “Betty White Challenge,” a nationwide effort to honor the late actress — an animal lover — by donating to local animal rescues or shelters.

Amy Fifield, the society's director of community relations, said one of its biggest expenses is caring for the animals at its no-kill shelter in Renfrew. Money raised through the fundraiser will go toward those expenses, including medical needs for the animals, vaccinations, micro-chipping, spaying and neutering and screening for diseases.

And at the West Manor Park mobile home park, a group of about 20 neighbors, family and friends helped to clean up the site of a fire last week that destroyed the home of Warren “Bud” Marra, who woke up to his room on fire and, thankfully, escaped the blaze.

Although the incident is such a sad one, we're glad to see community members stepping up to help a neighbor who's in a terrible situation.

The month of January, so far, has seen a massive spike in omicron cases and an uptick of hospitalizations, freezing cold weather and a snowstorm.

But we're glad to see that none of these things has deterred county residents from taking time out to help others in their community. To all involved: Thank you and keep up the good work.

— NCD