The school buses and cars that arrived on the campus of Gregg Middle School Monday morning were likely filled with students pressing their faces against the windows, a look of astonishment spread across their faces.
More than a dozen newly planted palm trees situated at the school’s entrance serve as the first indicator that the school’s campus is remarkably different than it was when students and staff departed Friday afternoon.
Eighty men and women from the Charleston Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek spent Sept. 11, Trident United Way’s 10th annual Day of Caring, planting hundreds of trees, shrubs and bushes at Gregg Middle.
Dispersed around the perimeter of the school, the volunteers performed an assortment of landscaping work, which included replacing old foliage with new trees and plants, removing weeds and tending to the school’s already existing plant life.
“They’ve been working like you wouldn’t believe,” said Assistant Principal Robert Neuner. “Some of the ground they’ve had to work with isn’t easy, but they’ve been incredibly persistent.”
The project is a team effort as hundreds of plants were donated by the school’s business partners, the landscaping was done by the volunteers from the Charleston Naval Weapons Station and watering and maintaining the plant life is now the responsibility of the school’s students.
Sprucing up Gregg Middle was just one of 350 projects throughout the Lowcountry that volunteers in the business community completed for the annual Day of Caring event.
The event, put on by the Trident United Way, had 6,200 volunteers working throughout the Lowcountry to help clean up schools, non-profits, low-income families and other charitable organizations. According to the Trident United Way, this year’s project list tripled from years past, and the amount of work done by volunteers made it the largest Day of Caring event in the state.
More than 400 volunteers worked on 56 projects in Dorchester County alone, the organization reports.
“It’s something the entire school is helping to do and I can tell you everyone is taking pride in this,” Neuner said.
The breadth of the project cannot be fully grasped without walking around the school’s perimeter because the volunteers did work at numerous locations. Whether it’s the palm trees at the school’s entrance, the neat row of plants that now line the area between the parking lot and front of the school or the new shrubs near the gym, upgrades to the campus can be seen from what seems like every location on the school’s campus.
Many of the volunteers were drenched in sweat and had grass and soil stains on their navy blue pants, but they were all smiles as they worked together.
“This is no doubt a very ambitious project and it’s a lot of work, but we’ve had a good time,” said volunteer Scott Schachterle. “It’s a great experience for everyone involved because we like being able to give back to the community.”
As she surveyed the work being done Friday afternoon, Principal Lori Phillips was both excited and amazed.
“The outside of the school really needed a pick me up and to be brought up to date,” Phillips said. “I cannot get over how remarkable this is going to look.”
For a full list of Dorchester County projects and the businesses that were partnered, visit www.journalscene.com.

Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com