One of the biggest reputations on South Whidbey has been 10 years in the making.

Saturday marked the 10th year Hearts and Hammers has repaired the homes of others on the organization’s annual Work Day. The community-based group provides free home repair and maintenance to people who are unable to do the work themselves.

Ever growing in reputation and in numbers, the group tackled 30 homes Saturday in need of care.

Scott Connor, who participated in the first Work Day in 1994, was back with his 13-year-old son, Jensen. Jensen learned not only the art of fence building, but the art of compassion in his first year as a volunteer.

Jensen, the youngest volunteer at a Mutiny Bay Road worksite Saturday, was in it for the destruction.

“He likes to tear things down,” said Scott Connor. “Luckily he likes to put things back together.”

Scott and Jensen Connor worked with Jack Husband of Freeland to tear down a rickety fence and put up a sturdy new one. A sheep and horse stood side-by-side a few feet away munching on grass, watching the three build a new fence.

The group’s good reputation reached first time volunteer Carol Kerley even before she became a Whidbey Island resident. Kerley, who was weeding at a Timber Lane, Freeland home with Linda Dunham, said she heard about the work day through word of mouth when she was planning a move to Langley.

“We’ve been waiting all year to be able to do this,” Kerley said.

Kerley said she and Dunham will volunteer again next year, and get some more of their friends to help.

“It’s just such a cool thing for a community to do together,” said Kerley.

Over 300 volunteers donated their time and skills to the one-day effort, according to Randy Hudson, president of Hearts and Hammers. Crews took the time on Saturday to do yard work and painting, replaced and repaired roofs, and repaired electrical and plumbing problems. Hudson said approximately $3,000 in firewood was delivered to homeowners in need Saturday by the Woodchucks — a crew that cuts and splits donated firewood.

Hudson estimated over $60,000 in labor and materials were donated by the community. About $20,000 of that was raised in cash through individual and corporate donations, and fund raisers such as the annual Hearts and Hammers spaghetti dinner.

Each year, a number of homes are assessed to determine which ones will receive help that year. A house captain is then assigned to each site to put together the crew, tools and materials needed for the job.

Volunteers met at South Whidbey High School for breakfast Saturday and their work assignments at 7 a.m. Saturday morning, then drove to work sites on South Whidbey. In addition to the work done by the site crews and the Woodchucks, there was also a crew that disposed of garbage and recycled what could be recycled. A kitchen crew spent the day preparing a celebratory dinner, to which all volunteers and homeowners were invited.

According to Hudson, Hearts and Hammers has inspired at least two other similar groups in the United States, which now hold workdays of their own.