More than 500 volunteers grabbed their rakes, leaf blowers and bags Thursday to hit yards all across Berrien and Cass counties for the United Way’s Third Annual Day of Action for Seniors Thursday.

Emily Briggs, of Niles, was one of approximately 160 seniors whose yards were raked clean of leaves.

“It helps me out a lot because I usually have a lot of leaves and I would’ve had to find some way to get them up,” said Briggs. “I think it’s nice what they are doing for seniors.”

In addition to raking and bagging leaves free of charge, volunteers also cleaned gutters and put plastic over windows.

The United Way of Southwest Michigan partnered with Area Agency on Aging Region IV to help make the day of action possible.

United Way of Southwest Michigan is part of a national network of more than 1,300 locally governed organizations that work to create lasting positive changes in communities and people’s lives.

Building on more than a century of service as the nation’s preeminent community-based fundraiser, United Way engages the community to identify the underlying causes of the most significant local issues, develops strategies and pulls together financial and human resources to address them, and measures the results.