Prince George’s Co. sorority, local school prepare for Earth Day community service project

OXON HILL, Md. (DC News Now) — A local chapter for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — along with Glassmanor Elementary School — is bringing the community together to celebrate Earth Day on Saturday to plant trees at the school.

“We have to think about not only ourselves, but we have to think about the next generation in every generation to come. We need to clean our environment and we need to protect it,” said Quindella Fletcher, president of Upsilon Tau Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

“We’re planting the seeds out here and we’ll see the trees grow. It mirrors what we do with the students every day. We’re planting seeds of knowledge, of courage, of this positivity and our students and watching them grow as they are here at Glassmanor,” said school principal Traci Brown.

It’s part of the Upsilon Tau Omega chapter’s “Enhance Our Environment” initiative. The goal is to unite the community and reduce pollution to have cleaner air and to create a more sustainable environment for future generations.

“They needed some new trees because they recently had a few trees taken down,” said Fletcher.

“We’re a part of the larger community and we want them to understand that it’s important to do things that are going to help future generations to come and so it just helps them be productive citizens,” said Brown.

Students and residents will have the opportunity to help plant trees, and also plant herbs in a pot and take them home with them. Middle school volunteers with the chapter’s Youth Leadership Initiative will help elementary students prepare students.

“The children what we’d like for them to take away is the importance of being stewards of the environment. We want them to understand that trees play an important part in our lives,” said Fletcher.

“The biggest takeaway is just commitment to a brighter future for the world a commitment to teamwork, a commitment to partnership and a commitment to thriving and doing everything we can to make sure the world is a better place,” said Brown.

The event will be held at Glassmanor Elementary School, on Saturday April 22nd from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.