SUFFOLK, Va. - Sleepy Hole Park has more than 40 new trees, thanks to grant dollars and the helpful hands of 60 volunteers.
Sunday morning, the organization ASEZ WAO gathered at the park located off Sleepy Hole Road to help plant trees and pick up trash.
ASEZ WAO is the short version of "Save the Earth from A to Z, We Are One family," an international volunteer group under the Church of God's more than 7,000 affiliated churches.
The group that came to Suffolk on Sunday is based locally and members donated their time as part of the organization's "Mother's Nature" initiative.
“Not only is it for this area but actually on a global scale, worldwide, this is our overall goal because there are so many benefits that not only we as mankind, but the environment we come to receive through planted trees," said Brittany Strozier, a volunteer who drove from Newport News.
Those benefits included everything from helping fight climate change and purifying the air to providing more shade to people walking through the park.
“We have 430 square miles and we have dedicated a good deal of land and resources to maintaining our parks for recreational purposes so these trees will be a welcome addition," said Suffolk Mayor Mike Duman, who came out to show his support for the group.
Duman tells News 3 the city's Department of Parks and Recreation purchased the trees with the help of a $5,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry.
A single gift of money that, with dozens giving the gift of time, might just have a lifetime of benefit.
