Beautifying the Community

Garden Cleanup and Painting Day

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SMILEUP! VOLUNTEERS

A large crew turned out to help with the garden cleanup project.

GARDEN CLEANUP

On March 5, the Georgia Academy Baseball Club, Woodstock High School Navy Junior ROTC, Cherokee High School Agriculture Club, SmileUp! Charitable Foundation volunteers, Cherokee County Master Gardener Susan Gum, and Mike and Rebekah Gibson of SEEd. LLC helped clean up the G. Cecil Pruett Community Center Family YMCA garden in Canton, as part of SmileUp!’s Garden Beautification Project. “The kids did amazing work, and they cleaned without complaint. If you give a young person a job to do, and tell them how to do it, they get it done,” SmileUp! Executive Director Tonya Riddick said.

Painting day volunteers.

PAINTING DAY

On March 27, a local church group and SmileUp! volunteers cleaned and painted rocks, cinder blocks and containers, and assembled the rock gardens at the G. Cecil Pruett Community Center Family YMCA garden. Local contractor Kenneth Johnson donated his services, and painted benches and a new picnic table. Prior to the event, Cherokee High School Agriculture Club students painted rocks for the gardens. Canton Optimist Club members donated more than $2,000 toward materials. Upon completion of planting and mural painting, the garden will be named The SmileUp! Happy Garden. For more information and volunteer opportunities, visit https://smileupfoundation.org.

Katie L. designs a rock garden.