Blog post by Reed from Washington, DC
Thanks for all of the nice comments I received about yesterday’s post about my mother. Although she passed away more than four years ago now, Mothers Day continues to be a day where I honor her and remember what a wonderful person she was.
To shift gears a little today, we’re going to get dirty…well, get our hands dirty at least.
April 22nd was Earth Day, a day that has been dedicated to informing and energizing people around the world to take an active role in securing a healthy future for us and our planet. The building where I work sent out an email that they were observing Earth Day by partnering with the Fairmont Hotel next door to help revitalize an elementary school across the street: Franics-Stevens Education Campus (FSEC).
FSEC is small public school that has about 225 pre-school through 8th graders. Despite its rather privileged location on the eastern periphery of upscale Georgetown, the school reports that 69% of the students receive free or reduced lunch.
Me spreading some mulch.
Its worn red brick façade looked a little dated as I arrived at just before 10am. The misty rain was refreshing even if it was foreshadowing for the downpour that would come later.
Given that I work for a conservation organization and that Earth Day is tied so closely to our mission, I was very surprised, and frankly disappointed to be honest, that so few colleagues came out to volunteer. I think there were a total of five individuals. All they asked was for a minimum of 30 minutes of people’s time, which is nothing. We could all make that time up by taking a shorter lunch that day. Thankfully the Fairmont Hotel had several volunteers and the maintenance staff of my building sent at least five people.
Volunteers from the Fairmont Hotel.
The outside of their campus was definitely looking a little tired. We all pitched in digging up weeds, cleaning up debris, and laying new mulch. My earth covered hands worked to get all the soil and mulch looking good perfect for the students. It wasn’t a huge task – from start to finish it took about two hours.
The real rock stars were some folks from Inside Out Landscaping. I only spoke with Jenna and Damion, but there were a few others there as well.
I understand that their company donated the materials and they came to help guide all of us amateurs in the right direction.
“It’s not a big deal,”
Damion said as we cleaned up, “We enjoy doing this and are happy to stop by a couple of times a year and make sure things are doing ok.”
It was a good thing we finished when we did because the rain started to pick up. There is something nice about the smell of a freshly mulched garden and the rain makes it more intense. I took one last look at our work and headed back to the office to get cleaned up and get back to work.
Year of Giving 