Earth Day / Global Youth Service Day, April 2009
On a warm spring weekend, over 50 KidzCare® USA volunteers converged on the men's emergency homeless shelter in Rockville, Maryland to transform a barren institutional-looking building into a beautiful flowering garden that gives the entrance to the shelter the look and feel of a home.  Adults and children ages 3-17 helped plant 53 plants, trees, and shrubs, including:  yews, azaleas, lilac trees, crepe myrtle, Oregon grape holly, oak leaf hydrangea, Japanese pieris, wave petunias, an eastern red bud, and a heritage river birch. 

The children worked hard and took great pride in completing this project for the shelter, and the results were truly transformative, both for the shelter and for the volunteers who served.  Our deep thanks to the following companies and individuals who donated goods and services to make this project possible:  EU Services, Irwin Stone, Rels, and Eddie Docal.Click on the slideshow below to view before and after pictures of the children's work.