Iowa Chapter Leads Community Beautification Effort
In the fall of 2007, Phi Theta Kappa chapter members from Ellsworth Community
College in Iowa, with participants from the community, wrapped up a very
special gift for local residents - but the gift cannot be opened until spring.
Buried
beneath the ice and snow in and around 13 communities in the Hardin County,
Iowa, area, are more than 8,000 daffodil bulbs, waiting to bloom when spring
arrives. The bulbs were purchased and planted through a Phi Theta Kappa
project that the Ellsworth chapter members named Petals for Peace.
Petals
for Peace was inspired by a desire to help the local county and to participate
in Phi Theta Kappa's International
Service Program, Operation Green: Improving Our Communities,
a partnership with Keep
America Beautiful.
The chapter sold daffodil bulbs
at a discount, made possible through the generosity of a local supplier,
and also offered help to plant the bulbs. Altogether volunteers planted
more than 1,500 daffodils.
Chapter members worked with garden
clubs, civic and community groups and state environmental officials to
promote Petals for Peace throughout the county. Advisor Marcia Hovinga
and Vice President of Service Donna Wood appeared on local radio programs,
and county newspapers also featured the project.
"Community
involvement and action was what I hoped would make this truly a unifying
accomplishment for our county," said Wood. "Many hands made for lighter
work and a great effort. We had fun serving the community with beauty and
giving them the opportunity to join in the fun."
"It's just an
awesome beautification project and fits with the Phi Theta Kappa International
Service Program partnership with Keep America Beautiful," Hovinga said.
