WASHINGTON — Bethesda-based Marriott International held its annual employee volunteer day this week, with 2,700 of its local employees volunteering on various project throughout the Washington metro area.
One of those projects included transforming an empty site in Silver Spring into a kid-designed, state-of-the-art playground — and they did it in just six hours.
The playground, at Park Montgomery, was a project tackled by volunteers from the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, who worked with the Community Preservation and Development Corporation and nonprofit KaBOOM!, which helps communities build playgrounds.
Earlier this year, children from the surrounding community worked on a plan for the playground they wanted. The result is based off their drawings.
“This great project will provide the children at Park Montgomery much better access to a key factor for growing up healthy — a high-quality playground — and will boost our Community Impact Strategies, which provide our low-and moderate-income residents space and resources to create greater opportunities for their families,” said J. Michael Pitchfork, president of the Community Preservation and Development Corporation.
The Park Montgomery playground is the 12th playground Marriott volunteers and KaBOOM! have partnered to build.
Marriott’s volunteer day, called “Spirit to Serve Our Communities Day,” is part of its Associate Appreciation Week.
Other volunteer projects for Marriott employees in the Washington area:
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Washington DC — Painting & clean-up projects at the Germantown Club
- Capital Area Food Bank — Food packaging for distribution
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation — Oyster Restoration Project
- Comfort Cases — Assemble small duffel bags/backpacks for children entering the foster care system
- C & O Canal Trust — Clean up and beautification of the C & O Canal and its picnic areas
- DC Diaper Bank — Sorting diapers for distribution
- DC Central Kitchen — Food preparation
- DC Habitat for Humanity — Building a new home
- Madison House Autism Foundation — Painting, landscaping, power washing projects
- MANNA Food Center — Food packaging for distribution
- Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless (MCCH) — Playground clean up at Seneca Heights
- National Center for Children and Families — Landscape and gardening projects; sorting and organizing donations
- Shepherds Table — Serving lunch to constituents
- So Others Might Eat — Serving lunch to constituents
- Stepping Stones Shelter — Deep cleaning of common areas, gardening projects
- Warrior Canine Connection — Landscaping and painting projects at their new farm in Germantown, MD
- A Wider Circle — Organize and sort furniture donations in the warehouse
- Wolf Trap Park for the Performing Arts — Planting and beautification projects at The Filene Center at Wolf Trap Park for the Performing Arts
- Brookside Gardens — Planting around the new parking area
- Brookside Nature Center — Removal of invasive plants
- Derwood Trail Project — Creating and maintaining a natural trail
