Unison Industries employees completed yard work at the Kids Learning Place in Xenia.

Unison Industries employees completed yard work at the Kids Learning Place in Xenia.

Unison Industries employees completed landscaping work at Dominick Lofino Park in Beavercreek.

Unison Industries employees completed landscaping work at Dominick Lofino Park in Beavercreek.

Hilton Garden Inn employees complete work at the Kid’s Learning Place in Fairborn.

XENIA — About 100 volunteers contributed efforts throughout Greene County as part of the United Way of the Greater Dayton Area’s Day of Action Friday. Volunteers contributed a total of about 390 hours of service as part of the effort, saving the agencies and organizations they worked at just under $8,500.

Even through the rain, volunteers threw their backs and hands into a variety of projects indoors and outdoors, including at the Family Violence Prevention Center in Xenia, at Kids Learning Place locations in Xenia and Fairborn, at Dominick Lofino Park in Beavercreek, at the Greene County Housing Program in Xenia and at the Xenia Adult Recreation and Services Center. Projects included landscaping, yard work, moving furniture and cleaning at the various locations.

Workers in Greene County were part of a group of more than 500 volunteers working on 37 projects throughout Montgomery and Preble counties in the effort. Held annually in June, United Way’s Day of Action is a large-scale, coordinated event which brings people from throughout the region together to complete dozens of community service projects and activities in one day.

“I think it’s good in two ways,” said Meg Gillis, Director of United Way’s Greene County Branch. “First of all, it gives agencies the opportunity to get things done that they normally don’t have the time to do or the resources to do. Secondly, it helps the volunteers get an idea of what the agencies are and what they’re doing and also gives them an opportunity to do some team-building. It’s a great example of a community working together to make things better.”

Volunteers come from across the community and include both organizations and individuals. Many volunteers come from the workforce, where businesses and organizations agree to let their employees spend a work day giving back to their community.

Employers that committed volunteers for activities this year throughout the Dayton area included: PNC, CareSource, Cargill, Ferneding Insurance, Sanderson Insurance, Battelle, Enterprise, CEMEX, The Dayton Builders Exchange, GE/Unison Industries, Henny Penny, Hilton Garden Inn Beavercreek, MCM Electronics, SAS Automation, Target, Wright State University, Greene Inc., Christopher House and We R Family.

Reach Nathan Pilling at 937-502-4498 or on Twitter @XDGNatePilling.