Greene County- Springfield Botanical Garden & Ronald McDonald House



Greene girls rocked the house! All thanks to the generous hospitality from the Alexanders  for allowing us to stay at their home. On Friday night, we arrived to Springfield and were welcomed to the best housing with delicious food, game room, and an adorable dog named Toby. Early the next day, we went to the Springfield Botanical Garden and met the kind gardener Barb. She gave us a tour of the beautiful gardens that the park has to offer and explained it's historic context. She showed us an area of a bunch of bamboo plants and explained that she would like to get rid of all of the bamboo plants since she has been working on it all summer. In about an hour, our group managed to cut down all of the bamboo plants- Barb was surprised and pleased! Then we picked up walnuts off the ground since the park sells walnuts to make money for the park. After work at the garden, we took a lunch break outside sitting on the balcony with a gorgeous view overlooking the immense park. Then we drove the Ronald McDonald House and worked from 1-6 PM inspecting and bagging boxes and boxes of tea cups and saucers. Our group managed to complete about 75% of the tea cup and saucer boxes- there were rows and rows of boxes to begin with! We also packed all of the hospital shoes in boxes. The assistant manager was surprised at how much progress we have done and was thankful for our work- we were thankful that we had the opportunity to work with such a giving organization like the Ronald McDonald house. We then wanted to try one of Springfield's "finest Chinese" at Crazy Eights Restaurant- Springfield is known for Cashew Chicken. We completed another Springfield tradition and went to the huge and incredible Bass Pro Shops- camouflage and stuffed animals everywhere! And turtles! We even ran into the other MAB Greene trip for STRIPES and took a rad MAB group pic. We picked up some housewarming gifts for the Alexanders and returned home. To conclude the night, we all did a group reflection discussing what we learned, our favorite part, and the most challenging moment. Our group concluded that it was important to work hard today and remember why we are here in the first place. Greene girls sure had a blast enhancing Springfield's nature and giving the incredible Ronald McDonald house a hand!



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