Sunshine and mild temperatures greeted Brookhaven College volunteers for two Tree Campus service projects in March. Both activities were urban forest-related projects to meet the 2019 Tree Campus USA requirements.
On March 7, nine students and five staff members tackled weeding and maintenance at the Windmill Garden, an element of the campus forest. The volunteers installed a variety of native plants around the perimeter of the garden to serve as a windbreak and habitat, and as pollinators - primarily for butterflies. Amy Monroy, Windmill Garden coordinator, facilitated the planting and garden work.
The second event, March 22, involved trail installation and repair at the Trinity River Audubon Center located south of downtown Dallas. This project proved to be a more arduous task for the six students and two staffers who volunteered to assist with trail installation and repair. The work included transporting wheelbarrow loads of crushed concrete to the worksite on the trail, spreading it, smoothing it out and pounding it down.
"We had such great student volunteers," said Carrie Schweitzer, director of sustainability. "They were cheerful, hard workers who made important contributions to two very different environmental projects."
Both service activities were coordinated by Curtis Lee, student programs development coordinator, as part of the Good NeighBear initiative through the Office of Service Learning and Civic Engagement.
Volunteers contribute their time and talents throughout the campus and community and the value of that service may be overlooked. For the number of volunteers and the hours worked, Independent Sector 2018 placed the value of volunteer time at $24.69 per hour for a total of $1,628 for the combined service projects.
Learn more about Brookhaven College Service Learning or the Windmill Garden on our website at
www.BrookhavenCollege.edu.