A groundswell of gratitude
BY KENDALL FLETCHER
I NOTICED SOMETHING beautiful in Detroit during my
first-ever Tourism Cares work project. Not the sunshine
on that pleasant May day, the flowers we planted nor the
freshly mulched trees. It was when strangers went out of
their way to say “thank you” for what we were doing.
Cheesy, I know.
But it was incredible. We received lots of gratitude
from group leaders and organizers for traveling to
Detroit, getting out of our comfort zones and work-
ing long hours to make places prettier, children hap-
pier and school buses artsier. But I wasn’t expecting
thanks from so many Detroit residents. The apprecia-
tion came in the forms of waves, smiles, horn honks
and actual thank-you’s all throughout the day.
About 200 volunteers spent the day gardening on
Belle Isle, urban farming on Georgia Street and with
the Michigan Urban Farm Initiative, enriching youth
at Pasteur Elementary, painting graffiti murals and
rehabbing Lafayette Park.
At my worksite in Lafayette Park, we dug up land-
scape stones, pulled weeds, laid compost and mulched
around trees and in flower beds, and we planted lots
of hydrangeas and catmint. I made some new friends
over laughs while battling stubborn tree roots, tippy
wheelbarrows and exceptionally heavy rocks that
seemed to multiply.
Laura Kastenbauer, marketing coordinator with
Mayflower Tours in Downers Grove, Illinois, was like
me: relatively new to the travel industry and partici-
pating in her first Tourism Cares project.
“When it comes to being in the tourism industry
and volunteering for this event, I notice a connection
to places we travel to,” she said. “We go there, and
we’re not just leaving. You actually connect to the
community. It’s nice to fix up places that are forgot-
ten and to create more places for people to enjoy.”
It was fun to learn who was new and who was
seasoned in these events. Dan Flores with Maverick
Aviation Group has participated in Tourism Cares
projects since 2008.
“It’s important and offers a great opportunity to
network with industry professionals and buyers taking
part in the event. There’s nothing better than spending
six to seven hours with someone, building a relation-
ship,” said Flores, who served as a team leader for the
group at the Georgia Street Community Collective.
Tourism Cares certainly met my expectations: meet
lots of people, see a little bit of the city, work really
hard and be really sore for a couple of days. Building
friendships and putting faces to names while making
a positive impact on an already-cool city was reward-
ing enough … I didn’t need to be thanked.
Barry Burton with the City of Detroit discusses the design of flower
beds in Lafayette Park during Tourism Cares for Detroit, May 11–12.
A group of Tourism Cares volunteers shovel compost to transfer
to trees and flower beds. About 200 industry professionals from
across the U.S. provided work valued at $30,000.
Volunteers clean out a landscape bed in downtown Detroit.
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