By Ed Simmons, Jr.
cpreporter@lcs.net
Cornella Walker, 78, of Macedonia Road in Upper Caroline peeped out her front door at the new deck Don Robinson and John Synider were finishing up. "I love it! I'm very glad to have it done for me. It needed repair," she said. Both men are building inspectors for Caroline Department of Planning and Zoning and were among the 33 volunteers who turned out last Thursday for the 1st Annual Spring Caroline Day of Caring, sponsored by Rappahannock United Way. Volunteers also came from Public Utilities, Union First Market Bank, StellarOne and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative.
Down in Bowling Green at the Community Garden on Lakewood Road, Quinn Rivers food program coordinator Lindsey Williams was thankful for weeding help from two volunteers from StellarOne and three from Union First Market. "For a while the weeds were fighting to take us over," she sighed with relief. She's got six gardens in two counties and the City of Fredericksburg to look after, and was glad for their help planting a slew of vegetables, from okra to herbs. Not far away on Canning Road, volunteers from the Department of Planning were painting Deloris Brown's front and back porch. "This is wonderful and it came out to be the perfect color," Deloris said.
There were projects too and more people to help out on Long Branch Road and New Baltimore Road, cleaning gutters, fixing leaking chimneys and painting handrails. The clients are referred by the Rappahannock Area Agency on Aging and the Department of Social Services. Shelby Beck, who is Volunteer Services Specialist at Rappahannock United Way, said the Fall Caroline Day of Caring is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 14. "We are looking for projects, sponsors and volunteers," she said.
You can contact Shelby Beck at 540-373-0041, extension 314.