In just one day, 105 Timberland employees fanned out across Lawrence and tried to make a big difference in the lives of young and elderly people.

A part of a community service day for Timberland on April 18, employees from the Stratham, N.H., headquarters came bearing tools, mulch, flowers, and paint. They read to young people at the library. They cleared pounds of brush and debris out of the YMCA’s yard. They spread mulch and playground sand at the Head Start program on the common, and they painted a mural at the Lahey School in Lawrence. They even cleaned, repaired and painted several elderly residents’ homes.

They blitzed the city," said Christine Kuzmitski, human resources director at the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc., who coordinated the volunteer effort for Timberland. "It was incredibly fabulous."

At the Head Start program on Andover Street, a crew of workers brought in mulch, painted a tool shed, installed window boxes with pansies, painted park benches and picnic tables in cheery primary colors, and renovated an entire room inside the old Victorian home.

"It was like a complete metamorphosis," she said. "The children just loved it."

Some of the Timberland employees even went back two days later to put some finishing touches on the Andover Street Head Start program. And, a larger group plans to return to the city for more work on May 31.

"The elderly and the young people were their focus. I can’t say enough about them. They were happy to be here and to turn this city around," Kuzmitski said.

Philip F. Laverriere, Sr., the council’s executive director, watched in awe as 50 of his own employees joined the Timberland crew. "I was so impressed by what they did . . . It was like a little ant colony. Everybody was busy, and no one was idle," he said.

Timberland’s senior manager in the social enterprise department, Elise Klysa, said their employees are encouraged to do 40 hours of community service each year. Unlike other companies that do team-building exercises in seminars or outdoor group events, Timberland believes in community work.

"It was a great opportunity for people to get to know one another and to serve the community," Klysa said.

Employees use their job skills to better the world around them. "It makes them feel happier in the jobs they do because they can use it in the community, "she said.