On Saturday and Sunday, folks of all ages rolled up their sleeves and did yardwork for free at 57 homes in Oxford, Addison and Orion townships and the villages of Oxford and Leonard.

It was all part of the Fourth Annual Oxford Gives Back (OGB) work weekend. Anyone who is unable to do yardwork and cannot afford to hire someone to do it for them was eligible. Services included raking, mulching, weeding and bagging yard waste.

According to Emily McClear, the Oxford High School junior who leads the OGB committee, “a little over 350” volunteers got their hands dirty helping everyone from neighbors to strangers.

“I’m really, really grateful for all of the volunteers,” she said. “It was a little less than (what) we would have liked, but everybody pitched in and got it all done.”

McClear said “ideally,” it would have been nice to have “around 500” volunteers, but she’s impressed with how much “a dedicated 350” was able to accomplish. “I was initially really worried about all of the homes getting done,” she admitted, “but throughout the day,” volunteers kept stepping up to do extra work at other houses.

“The commitment of the volunteers and how willing they were to help everyone in need was really the highlight,” McClear said.