On Monday, students from Project Promise’s Caterpillar Project program honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy with a day of service. It has become an annual tradition for the program participants, who join thousands around the world in honoring King’s birthday as a “day on, not a day off.”
This year, the Caterpillars along with Project Promise staff, teamed up with local volunteers to replace the roof at Altona Lagoon’s pavilion on the east end of St. Croix. In addition to roof repairs, the group repainted the pavilion and surrounding areas, picked up trash and refilled the sandbox at the playground.
“Community service is part of the commitment our students fulfill on a monthly basis, and it’s important on this day especially that we support Dr. King’s vision of strengthening communities by revitalizing Altona Lagoon,” said Resa O’Reilly, Project Promise founder and president.
The federal agency charged with leading the national effort to celebrate Dr. King’s birthday is the Corporation for National and Community Service. This year marks the 25th celebration of the MLK Day of Service, a day intended to empower individuals, strengthen communities, bridge barriers, create solutions to social problems and move people closer to Dr. King’s vision of a “beloved community.”
Paint for the rehabilitation project was donated by Colorama The Paint Solution Company; lumber was donated by St. Croix Trading; High-Quality Concrete donated the sand to refresh the playground. Project Promise will partner with O’Reilly’s Plumbing and Construction to provide additional supplies and manpower needed to rebuild the roof, and it will partner with Boyd’s Painting to complete the second phase of the project. Phase two is scheduled to be completed within the next two weeks.
The project is also in line with Project Promise’s commitment to rehabilitate one playground annually as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it entered into with the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation in 2016.
