If the dreary grey sky and chilly temperatures outside dampened the spirits of the group of four industrious volunteers raking and bagging up leaves outside a quaint Dowagiac residence Thursday morning, they sure did not let it show.

With a pep in their step and smile on their faces, the squad — who wore bright orange T-shirts that sported the phrase “#RakeADifference” — busily worked, with rake and leaf blower in hand, to rid the local lawn of the thick layer of foliage that had built up since weather’s turn. Even as a gust of wind blew another barrage of auburn and golden leaves toward the lawn of the beige home, one of the volunteers, Dawn Howley, pulled out her smartphone, pointed it toward the rest of the group and gleefully exclaimed, “this will make an awesome video.”

“We’re not worried about the cold,” Howley explained. “We started the day wearing a lot of layers, and we’ve been shedding them ever since. You work up quite a sweat doing this.”

Four employees with the United Way of Southwest Michigan were among the more than 600 volunteers who pitched in to rake leaves and clean gutters for more than 200 Berrien and Cass county senior citizens Thursday, as part of the area nonprofit’s seventh annual Day of Action for Seniors. Around 20 employees with the local United Way office, along with hundreds of other volunteers with companies and organizations across southwest Michigan, spent the way out away from their desks and out in the community, to, like their shirts proclaimed, “Rake a Difference.”

The day of action is designed to help out residents over the age of 60 with their lawn work, which more many senior citizens is a challenge, given the combination of mobility issues and the colder weather. Some of the people volunteers help during the event are homebound, making such labor impossible for them to do on their own.

“We [the United Way] are here to change the lives of people living in our communities,” Howley said. “This day is just another opportunity for us to do so.”

Howley and her teammates, Diane Binder, Jackie Kamerer and Josh Kirshman, cleaned up three homes in the Dowagiac and Sister Lakes area Thursday. Also helping out in the Dowagiac area were employees with Fifth-Third Bank.

Among the residents who received a helping hand Thursday was Dowagiac’s Pat Nothdurft, who has signed up for assistance through the program for the last several years. The local woman, who has lived at her current home for the past 20 years, said that she cannot easily get outside and tend to her yard, as she has recently had knee surgery and is also suffering from injuries to her back.

The woman said she will continue reaching out to the United Way for help through the program, and will continue to recommend that others in her situation ask for help.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing,” Nothdurft said. “These volunteers are amazing, for them to come out and help people when they need it.”