Four-year-old Victoree Morrow digs into a pile of mulch alongside her dad, Josh Morrow, as the two volunteered at a community service day Saturday at Riley Park. Roughly 130 volunteers turned out for the event, a collaboration between four Greenfield churches to help spruce up the local parks and downtown flower beds.
Shelley Swift | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — As the temperatures hovered near freezing on Saturday morning, a determined 4-year-old girl wrapped her mittens around a pitchfork as tall as her and jabbed it into a pile of mulch at Riley Park.
Victoree Morrow and her dad, Josh Morrow, were among the dozens of volunteers who showed up for a community service day on April 9 when they helped the City of Greenfield’s street and parks departments with a number of springtime tasks.
The volunteer effort was a collaboration of four Greenfield churches: Brandywine Community Church, Brown’s Chapel Wesleyan Church, Park Chapel Christian Church and Trinity Park United Methodist Church.
Nearly 100 people met up at Greenfield’s three biggest parks — Riley, Beckenholdt and Brandywine — while about 30 gathered downtown, enduring the winter-like weather as they planted flowers and spread mulch.
“We rely on volunteer opportunities like this to help get the parks in shape for spring. It’s a good opportunity to get a lot of free man hours from people who have a passion for the community,” said Josh Gentry, maintenance operations manager for Greenfield Parks & Recreation.
More volunteers will return later this spring to paint a bridge, trash cans and picnic tables at Riley Park. Another group will soon be volunteering at the baseball fields behind Greenfield-Central Junior High school, enhancing dugouts and preparing the fields.
“Our goal is to spread the love,” said Rev. Theodore Griffin, the lead pastor at Brown’s Chapel.
Griffin said Saturday’s collaborative service day was a great way for local churchgoers to serve as God’s hands and feet in the community.
“By partnering with these other churches, we want to send a strong message that we want to do good by the city, to serve as a witness to the community of God working through us,” he said.
Griffin said the service day is also a great way for volunteers to not only meet new people but to strengthen ties within their own church family, like the group of 10 or so teenagers from Brown’s Chapel who worked together that day.
Shannon Thompkins was hoping to make some new friends as she and her husband, Mike, planted flowers in the landscape beds near State and Main streets downtown.
“Service day is something we do every year,” said Thompkins, who held up a diagram, helping her husband figure out where to place each plant. The couple, who lives in Shirley, attends Park Chapel Christian Church.
“What these churches all have in common is a desire to help the community in any way we can. Despite the cold, it’s been an amazing experience,” Thompkins said.
Paul Galbraith, a pastor at Brandywine Community Church, said it was great to see such a large group of volunteers turn out for Saturday’s event.
“We thought it would be great to bless our city and parks as we prepare for spring,” said Galbraith, who feels blessed to have such unity and teamwork among local churches.
“It’s just one way to show our community how much we love and appreciate what we have, and to get the city looking beautiful for spring,” he said. “A lot of our church families utilize the parks and the city, so it’s a great way to serve and give back.”
Victoree’s dad said he was teaching that exact same lesson to his daughter, who loves to visit the local parks.
“We wanted to teach our kids the meaning of ‘love thy neighbor,’ and we can do that by serving our community,” said Morrow, whose family attends Brandywine Community Church.
His wife, Ali, and 1-year-old son, Hank, were there when the service day started at 9 a.m. but eventually went back home due to the cold.
But not Victoree.
Bundled up in a winter coat, hat and boots, the little girl braved the elements alongside her dad as they filled a wheelbarrow with mulch and then spread it around several trees in the park.
Morrow said he was proud of his little girl for sticking by his side, despite the cold.
“This weather is what the Lord gave us to work with, so we’re going to do our best,” he said with a grin.
