MAPPR Team Members Make the Most of Volunteer Month

MAPPR team members planting trees at Community House Middle School

April was National Volunteer Month, and the team at MAPPR joined the rest of the Carolinas Healthcare System family in making the most of it!  Some team members volunteered with TreesCharlotte to plant trees at Community House Middle School.  The first part of the day was spent learning about proper planting technique and safety instructions.  Then this knowledge was put to work as the volunteers broke into small groups and planted more than 250 trees around the school property!

“I thought this would be a fun volunteer project to do because we got to give back to our community,” says Research Coordinator Lindsay Lowe.  “It gave us an opportunity to work together and bond as a team outside of the office environment.”  

TreesCharlotte was created in 2012 as part of Charlotte’s bold initiative to create a 50% tree canopy in our city by 2050.  Volunteers were rewarded with a BBQ lunch and free t-shirts, as well as a satisfying sense of accomplishment!

Other team members opted to work with different organizations, such as Second Harvest Food Bank.  MAPPR team members sorted boxes of foods into categories, to be distributed to families facing hunger in North and South Carolina. 

Regardless of their choice of activity, all of the volunteers found their experiences to be both enjoyable and rewarding.  It seems likely that many will continue to find ways to give back to the community year-round!