Wednesday, April 24, was a sunny, blue-sky day in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Warren County. Intermixed with the sound of the breeze, birds chirping and the flowing water of Happy Creek were the sounds of hammers, sandpaper and the whirring of saws.
Through the day, employees from Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) partnered with a group of employees from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to tackle a variety of outdoor projects at the Northern Virginia 4-H Educational Center in Front Royal.
Projects included painting and staining facilities and benches, brush and walking trail clearing, spreading mulch, minor repairs and building a canoe and life jacket rack.
“Community partnerships like this are mutually beneficial for all involved,” said Katie Tennant, the 4-H Center’s Executive Director. “The value is immense. We have a very small staff and 229 acres to take care of. Taking on these projects on our own would probably have taken us months to years to accomplish but with the resources, donations, supplies and manpower REC and NRECA brought we got all this done in one day. Many hands made this go spectacularly.”
The 4-H Center sees more than 1,000 school-age children come through its organization for camps and to use the facilities in the spring, summer and fall months. As a nonprofit, they are fully reliant on the community to donate their time, energy and resources to provide educational, recreational and social opportunities for youth.
“This effort was all about giving back. There are a lot of co-op employees here who have either grown up going to the 4-H camp or have kids that attend 4-H camps, and to be able to give back and put a shine on these facilities is really a wonderful thing,” said Jeff Henry, a Director of Member Services and Community Relations at REC. "We care about our communities, so it's really important that when there's an opportunity to help, we jump in do it."
