Schuylkill United Way has renamed its annual Day of Caring to honor a native son.

Capt. Jason Benjamin Jones, 29, died the victim of small-arms fire in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on June 2, 2014.The first Capt. Jason B. Jones Memorial Day of Caring will be held May 8. the day will kick off with a ceremony at 8:30 a.m. at the salvation Army building in Pottsville.The Orwigsburg soldier led a humble and exemplary life, graduating sixth in his 2007 class at West Point. A 2003 Blue Mountain Area High School honors graduate he was the son of Jay Jones of Pottsville and Suzy Jones of Orwigsburg.He left behind his widow, Dr. Amy Jones. The couple would have celebrated their first anniversary on June 15, 2014.At his memorial service, his sister, Lizzy Jones, remembered when he gave a homeless man $5, despite her warning that he would probably spend it to get drunk."Whatever gets him through the night. I just don't like to see people suffer," she recalls him saying.That caring character, woven into the Jones family, was among the reasons the United Way decided to honor Jones with the name change."The Jones family has supported the Schuylkill United Way unwaveringly for decades, even championing the community fundraising organization as the United Fund before it became known as the Schuylkill United Way in 1971," the organization said in an announcement."We wanted the blessing of the Jones family, and we wanted this to be a local volunteer event to honor Jason through community involvement. The Day of Caring is very simply about lending a hand. We know from Jason's legacy that a beautiful life can be built through consistent acts of kindness. We welcome all who wish to give back through the Capt. Jason B. Jones Memorial Day of Caring," said Schuylkill United Way Director Kelly Malone.The Day of Caring was created to match volunteers to service projects at the Schuylkill United Way's 15 Partner Agency organizations, which provide health and human services for free or little cost to county residents.In 2014, the sixth annual event had nearly 200 volunteers that took part in 21 service projects at sites across the county.