Accenture employees pitched in during last year's Hands On Atlanta Day. AJC file photo

We’re days away from Atlanta’s largest day of service, but there’s still time to sign up for Hands On Atlanta Day as an individual or team.

The day of service projects around the Atlanta area is organized by Hands On Atlanta, a non-profit that connects volunteers with projects.  It has about 32,000 active volunteers who have gone through the Hands On Atlanta training and participated in at least one project.

Hands On Atlanta Day, though, doesn’t require any previous training or experience, or a long-term commitment. (Of course, Hands On Atlanta Day organizers hope  some of the 6,000 volunteers who gather on Saturday will stick around.)

Here’s how it works:

• Register online at www.handsonatlantaday.org. There are projects indoors, outdoors, kid-friendly and accessible in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett counties. Gwinnett Great Days, two days of service in Gwinnett County, runs Oct. 2-3, too.
• When you register, you’ll be able to see which projects still need help, and which are full. There are projects at schools, theaters, community centers and parks, where organizations need help string holiday lights, pruning trees or cleaning up before winter.
• Materials are provided. On Oct. 3, you need only to arrive at your project site at 9 a.m., ready to work till 1 p.m.
• If you are too late to sign up online — organizers are asking folks to finish registering online by Thursday — Hands On Atlanta will accept walk-up volunteers on Saturday morning at the Hands On Atlanta office, 600 Mean St., Suite 100, Atlanta.
• For the first time, Hands on Atlanta Day has a participation fee. It costs $25 for adults and $10 for children ages 12 and younger. All volunteers will receive a T-shirt.

This year’s Hands On Atlanta Day will also kick off a 20th anniversary celebration for Hands On Atlanta. Although the number of calls for help has increased as the economy has struggled, so has the number of volunteers. Whether because of lost jobs or a desire to help, the number of new Hands On Atlanta volunteers has more than doubled in the last year. Four-times-a-month orientation sessions are packed with 15o to 200 people, up from 30 or 40 a year ago.

“This is a a great way to see the impact many hands can have when working together,” said Lesli Clarke, the development director for Hands On Atlanta. “We want Atlanta to be one of the leading cities answering that call to service.”

Want to go? Hands on Atlanta Day, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 3. Registration is required, whether online at www.handsonatlantaday.org, or on the day-of at the Hands On Atlanta office, 600 Mean St., Suite 100, Atlanta. $25 for adults, $10 for children ages 12 and younger. 404-979-2800, www.handsonatlanta.org.

For other volunteering news, check out the Atlanta Bargain Hunter blog, where Rana Cash writes about some volunteering rewards.