Annandale Kiwanis Club Donates $2K, Organize Work Day
Summary
The Kiwanis Club of Annandale, Fairfax VA, donated $2,000 and organized a volunteer work day at Hidden Oaks Nature Center’s "Nature Playce" in Annandale on Saturday, June 19th. The goal was to rejuvenate the Nature Playce, an Eagle Scout community resource visited by thousands each year. The thirty-plus Kiwanians and members of the public rebuilt the enclosing worm-rail fence, re-chipped the encircling 1/3 mile loop trail, repaired the entrance gate, refurbished the sandboxes, cleared the campfire circle of weeds and chopped the old rails for firewood. Eight young volunteers aged 6 through 11 watered plants, picked up trash and cleared the duckweed that was choking the pond. The cash donation will support educational programs that will positively impact up to 500 children and youths and help fund a new water feature in Nature Playce.
Full StoryWhat can 33 people and a tractor do in 4 hours? Well, if they’re Kiwanians, they can transform a small corner of the world!
That’s just what the Kiwanis Club of Annandale, joined by Tysons/Mclean and Fairfax Clubs on Saturday, June 19th when the Annandale Club organized a volunteer work day at the Nature Playce in Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Annandale.
The goal was to rejuvenate the Nature Playce, an outdoor experience area built to encourage young children and their parents to enjoy unstructured outdoor play, similarly to what’s depicted through the work of the Children and Nature Network (http://www.childrenandnature.org/). This play area allows toddlers and youths to experience the forest on their own terms, but in a safely managed environment. Due to prevalent "nature danger" and "stranger danger" fears normally expressed by parents in an urban and suburban setting, today’s children rarely are allowed outdoors on their own in the woods. Natural outdoor play is becoming rare. For a child to grow into caring about the environment, he/she needs to have developed a personal connection through frequent, direct experiences. Nature Playce is a stepping stone into that lifelong love of - and stewardship for - nature. And Jerry Rich, an Annandale Club member, couldn’t resist punning that since Kiwanis is a service organization that focuses its efforts on children, the Nature Playce project was "a natural fit".
Nature Playce, with its fencing, benches and "dinosaur discovery" area, was constructed several years ago by Eagle Scouts and Girl Scouts. It is 1/3 acre of forested woodland but with low impact split rail fencing to allow preschool children to explore within its boundaries. Kept clear of poison ivy, it’s a place where kids can be kids and play outdoors: make mud pies and forts, dig into woodchip piles, build sand-castles or just rest on a bench and watch the clouds float by.
This much loved community resource draws thousands of families each year, and right now shows the wear and tear resulting from that popularity. Kiwanians (including members students from Annandale High School Key Club) and volunteers from the community committed their Saturday to ensuring the facility will be available for the next couple of years by rebuilding the enclosing split-rail fence, re-chipping the encircling 1/3 mile loop trail, repairing the entrance gate, refurbishing the sandboxes, clearing the campfire circle of weeds and chopping the old rails for firewood. Eight young volunteers aged 6 through 11 (from Bailey’s, Columbia and Pinecrest elementary schools) watered plants, picked up trash and cleared the duckweed that was choking the pond.
In addition, the Annandale club combined a $1600 grant from the Capital District Foundation with $500 of its own community funds as a donation to support educational programs for up to 500 children and youths, to help support programs for disadvantaged youth, to donate sand-box buckets (full of sand-castle molds, digging tools and sieves), and to help build a water feature in Nature Playce (slated for completion in July). Through the fall of 2010, it is estimated that this project will positively impact more than 3,000 children.
A special thanks to Premium Lawn and Landscape of Fairfax and Manassas Battlefield Park which donated split rails, to Mr. Bob Hoteling of ReMax whose front-loader proved invaluable for moving wood chips, and to Annandale Home Depot which donated play sand.
Figure 1: Annandale Kiwanis Club and community volunteers
Figure 2: Manager Michael McDonnell (right) accepts $2000 donation from Annandale Kiwanis President, Gavin Dock
Figure 3: Members of the Annandale Kiwanis Club with Michael McDonnell (front, right)
Figure 4: Young volunteers clearing the pond
Figure 5: Young volunteers enjoy sandboxes and new sand toys donated by the Annandale Kiwanis. They are joined by Gavin Dock, president of the Annandale Kiwanis Club.
Figure 6: Kiwanis Volunteers re-chip the loop trail
Contacts:
Gavin Dock, President Annandale Kiwanis Club:
703.300.3681, gdock@clarocode.com
Michael McDonnell, Manager Hidden Oaks Nature Center,
703-941-1065, michael.mcdonnell@fairfaxcounty.gov
