Employees from the KeyBank in Dunkirk traded their deposit slips and account statements for rakes and wheelbarrows Wednesday for “Neighbors Make a Difference Day.”

The annual volunteering event, sponsored by KeyBank, has been held for 25 years.

“This is our 25th year going out into the community and doing different projects. … We are giving back to the community and making the community stronger,” KeyBank Dunkirk Branch Manager Pattie Halas said.

Halas was joined by co-workers Brittany Peterson, Kathy McCarthy, Maggie Myers, Shauna Engle and Bob Wong at the WCA Home in Fredonia.

Halas explained KeyBank employees choose a different agency to help each year.

“We decided to go with WCA Home’s project this year because the type of project and timing worked out perfectly,” she said.

WCA Home, located in a historic Victorian home at 134 Temple St., is an assisted-living facility for senior women who are medically stable.

KeyBank employees were asked to clear leaves and debris from the residence’s flower beds and distribute mulch.

WCA Home’s Housekeeping Supervisor Aaron Smith said this is not the first year KeyBank has helped out and the facility is always grateful for the volunteers’ assistance.

“We really value their volunteerism. The residents like to sit on the porch and admire the garden, so this really makes a difference for them,” he said.

Smith said without the volunteers’ help, this project may not have been completed.

“We get busy doing our job,” he explained. “This project could have been left by the wayside without their help. We really appreciate their hard work.”

Smith added next week, WCA staff will purchase flowers for planting in the newly cleaned beds.

“Neighbors Make a Difference Day” is one of the largest corporate volunteer projects in the U.S. and is KeyBank’s most visible community project. For 25 years, the event has fulfilled the bank’s commitment to help communities thrive with over 500,000 volunteer hours put toward community projects.

More than 6,000 employees volunteered for more than 700 projects nationwide Wednesday. Locally, 445 of the bank’s employees volunteered in Western New York at 35 different agencies.

Agencies can apply for next year’s Neighbors Make a Difference Day at their local KeyBank branch.