Making a difference in the community
Keep Lewisville Beautiful hosts beautification project
Keep Lewisville Beautiful’s 29th annual Make a Difference Day was held Saturday, Oct. 5 from 9 a.m. to noon. The event was held at the Rich Lubke Organic Community Garden, where clubs and organizations such as StuCo and National Honor Society participated in the beautification project.
“Make a Difference Day is an unofficial holiday/observance that emphasizes community service and volunteerism,” Keep Lewisville Beautiful executive director Amy Wells said. “It has been celebrated on the fourth Saturday of October since 1992.”
Originally, the event was going to be at LLELA and volunteers were going to plant prairie grasses. Due to complications, Keep Lewisville Beautiful had to change the location and volunteers helped pull weeds, mulch walkways and water trees.
“Keep Lewisville Beautiful had less than a week to find a second project for the volunteers who had signed up,” Wells said. “At the end of the day, we had a total of 116 volunteers who contributed 348 volunteer hours towards beautification and community improvement.”
People from a range of ages participated in Make a Difference Day. Huffines Middle School StuCo adviser Jennifer Marvel encouraged her students to volunteer at this event; she believes it teaches students a new understanding of what goes on in the community.
“Sometimes, students don’t see the bigger picture and the world around them until they get out and get their hands dirty and have a chance to work side by side with the adults,” Marvel said.
To achieve volunteer hours for National Honor Society, senior Thy Ngo attended the event. Although she has only gone to Keep Lewisville Beautiful events twice, she thinks it plays a significant role in the cleanliness of the community.
“I think the environment in our community clearer and it makes [our community] look more eco-friendly,” Ngo said.
Keep Lewisville Beautiful hosts multiple clean-ups throughout the year but Make a Difference Day directly impacts conservation efforts, tree and wildflower planting, and beautification projects.
“Make a Difference Day highlights different partnerships that Keep Lewisville Beautiful has in our community, creating more awareness for different partners and community environmental needs,” Wells said.
