Go: Westwood 2019

With beautiful weather for the Go: Westwood project on Saturday, May, 4, 250 volunteers participated, over 1,400 volunteer hours were logged, 6 projects were completed, and 13 alleys were cleaned. The volunteers groups who participated in Go: Westwood included BuCu West, Colorado Adventures! Meetup, Cornerstone Baptist Church, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Kai, Munroe Elementary School, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Westwood Unidos, and individual volunteers, who came from different neighborhoods to volunteer.Many volunteers helped painting sidewalks and cleaning the dust on Morrison Road, which is the primary commercial corridor in the Westwood neighborhood.Brandon Miller, a volunteer with BuCu West, said that it was his wife’s idea to volunteer with their two beautiful kids during the weekend. His wife wanted to volunteer so she can set a good example for their children while spending the time together.Cuatro Vientos Park, which was opened in 2014 with help from the Trust for Public Land, provides high-spirited community open space complete with playground, water play feature, a walking loop, and much more features. With the help of the volunteers, mulch was installed around the park to help hold moisture, which is important in the dry Colorado climate.Munroe Elementary School, where the school’s students body consists of 98.3% of minorities between early childhood education age through fifth grade, was the site of another project. Volunteers helped prepare the school garden for planting and paint murals and parts of sidewalks and the school external stairs. At Munroe Elementary School, volunteers were students of the school, students’ parents, staff, and school alumni.A parent decided to volunteer at his children’s school because he wanted to be a support base for the school community. He said that volunteering at his children’s school might help him communicate with his children as they grow and change by engaging in their daily routine.Many school alumni came to help several times after they graduated from the school. Two siblings had been volunteering together at Munroe Elementary School for a couple of years after they graduated from Munroe. They said that they feel that the school was a second home for them for many years. As a result, it was really important for them to help improve the school campus.After completing all assigned work, volunteers and residents of Westwood were able to come together and had a block party enjoying some delicious Mexican food from local businesses in the neighborhoood and some lemonade. These Work Days are all about making new connections and enjoying the time with people who care about the community and all those things were accomplished during this year's Go: Westwood project!~Zainab, ECM Communications Team & Jesse Barlow, Video Team