Under the cover of darkness, Cheryl Irwin has gone to shovel snow from her neighbor’s driveway.

The Cranberry Township resident said over the weekend, that she likes to surprise her neighbors by shoveling the snow away before dawn, but once, there was a time when she couldn’t shovel her own driveway.

“My health has improved, so I want to be able to go and do all the things that I couldn’t do before,” she said Saturday.

Irwin serves as a “Snow Angel” for Cranberry Township through a program that matches volunteers like herself with people who need help clearing the fluffy white snow from their driveways. According to the township’s website, the program is designed to help elderly or disabled residents through snowstorms by matching community volunteers to assist with snow removal.

Volunteers must be 15 years or older, or joined by a parent, and they bring their own shovels, gloves or other equipment to the job. They can work alone or in groups, gathering friends, family, church groups or employees for the cause.

The township’s program fills quickly. There’s plenty of need for the Snow Angels.

Actually, there’s plenty of need all over Butler County. Evans City agendas have noted that its council would like to implement such a program in the future.

But program or no program, those who are able should look to lend a hand amid the snow and the cold. Watch out for your neighbors at this time of year.

— TL