In a day of service to honor Martin Luther King Jr., volunteers from the V.I. Boys & Girls Clubs and the Recycling Association of the Virgin Islands (RAVI) helped further King’s dream of community service Monday by helping to get the Recycle Center at Anna’s Hope ready for its February opening.
The project is one of thousands that took place across the nation as part of the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
“I lived in Atlanta, and we always volunteered on Martin Luther King Day,” said volunteer Lena Dornelly. “I was happy to find this as my voluntarism job site,” she said as she painted the building with primer. She added that when she has the time she will volunteer at the Boys & Girls Clubs.
The dozen volunteers helped prime and paint the building green and orange and raked the fence line, which had been professionally cleared. They also prepped for landscaping in the front – digging along the fence and putting in mulch. General maintenance was also done to make the site ready for public drop-off of recycling items.
St Croix is desperate to reopen and maintain a successful recycle center, says RAVI project manager Colleen Sullivan, who added that the next step in preparation for opening is to complete a partially enclosed structure.
Sullivan and Julie Landreneau, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club, requested that folks don’t drop off any more cans until the site is open. New equipment to facilitate recycling is on order and on its way.
Landreneau said volunteers and donations are desperately needed.
“We all say we want recycling, but people need to help,” Landreneau said. “This is a community effort—every person needs to be a part of it.”
Individual and/or company-wide efforts were combined with the grants received from V.I. Waste Management Authority (WMA) and liquor giant Diageo USVI to purchase aluminum recycling equipment and renovate the site. The operator at the site will be V.I. Recycle.
Volunteers were asked to bring tools, while lunch and beverages were provided. Volunteers are also needed again this coming Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon to put on the second coat of paint and do the interior surfaces.
Volunteered some of her time to help on Monday was WMA Executive Director May Cornwall. “It was my pleasure to serve on Martin Luther King Day in a manner that advances the mission of WMA," she said, adding, "This was personal for me.”
