Pictured left to right are: LaVerne Buchanan, Project Chair; Beth Gallagher, Providence RECenter Volunteer Manager; Deidre Bland, First Vice-President; and Sabrina Mays-Diagne, Chair-Social Actions Committee.

Providence RECenter was thrilled and honored to welcome a service project from the Lambda Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. sorority, whose mission is to be the premier sisterhood of college-educated women working together to improve the quality of life for citizens of Fairfax County, Va., while fulfilling Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated’s^® mantra to be supreme in service to all mankind through exemplary service initiatives and progressive, award-winning programs.

The sorority members, in conjunction with their Educational and Charitable Foundation’s National Impact Day Project, brought almost 40 volunteers during April and May and selflessly gave their time and service to restore, refresh and renew the grounds of Providence RECenter. Their herculean efforts were in honor of the sorority’s National Impact Day on May 20th, although this dedicated group prepared and worked hard leading up to this day as well.

In addition to providing all of the labor, sorority members visited the site multiple times to best assess the needs and inspect the current condition of the landscaping. They took it upon themselves to go beyond the initial tasks at hand and began brainstorming about how to best make their impact within a modest budget. After looking at the existing planters lining the entrance, they researched refurbishing them and sourced out the appropriate sorority volunteers to add that to their growing task list. After their chapter meeting, the group generously offered to not only supply materials needed for the refurbishments but to donate all of the necessary mulch and flowers for the beautification project.

Highlights of the project included refurbishing the entrance around the RECenter, trimming the hedges, mulching, staining and repairing the existing planters, creating a bed area and planting flowers around the entrance sign, cleaning the sitting areas and planting flowers in the planter beds. Upon completion, the RECenter’s exterior was glowing.

As a result, Providence staff is currently in talks with this wonderful group to potentially “adopt” the RECenter for future projects and cannot begin to show their appreciation enough for all of the love and attention received.

Author Debbie Lodato is the Volunteer Program Manager for the Fairfax County Park Authority. Co-author Beth Gallagher is the Providence RECenter Volunteer Manager and managed the beautification project from start to finish.