Volunteers landscape national monuments

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - 250 yards of woodchips made their way to the FDR memorial, along with volunteers from 30 different states Monday.

“They’re doing a lot of mulch work,” Stanley Black and Decker Vice President Robert Newman said. “That’s going to help restore the soil and keep weeds out. They’ve got a lot of tree trimming work.”

400 different volunteers arrived in Washington to work on the FDR Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery in a partnership between the National Association of Landscaping Professionals and the National Parks Service.

“This is America’s front lawn, the National Mall.” NALP Board member Roscoe Klausing said. “So what a perfect place for a group of landscape contractors to come together and work.”

The program has been running for 29 years. The landscapers always restore Arlington National Cemetery and generally pick one national monument to work on as well.

“Determine what sites maybe need the most work,” Newman said." What type of work that volunteers can do. You got, certainly a lot of landscape professionals. A lot of folks that know exactly what they’re doing.”

The landscapers say it’s a good way to honor veterans and the important historical figures monuments have been made for.

“It’s just such an incredible opportunity to serve,” Klausing said. “It’s kind of the ultimate act of patriotism and giving back to the community.”