On Saturday, September 30, 2017, more than 25 volunteers participated in a work day at Olander and Margaret Banks Neighborhood Park in Alexandria, Virginia as part of National Public Lands Day (NPLD).  Local residents, members of the Banks Family, Park Authority staff members, Dr. Cynthia Jacobs-Carter (Lee District Representative on the Park Authority Board) and Park Board Vice Chairman Mary Cortina gathered for a commemorative photo.

Volunteers spent the morning painting bollards, removing landscape timbers, laying stone, pruning shrubs, raking, mulching and helping with other park beautification projects. The Olander and Margaret Banks Neighborhood Park includes approximately 10 acres of land in the Kingstowne area where opportunities for new, publicly-accessible open space are few and far between. The site is characterized by a mixture of open lawn areas, mature canopy trees and a stream that bisects the property.

The National Environmental Education Foundation’s (NEEF) National Public Lands Day is the nation's largest, single-day volunteer effort for public lands and aims to connect people to public lands in their community, inspire environmental stewardship, and encourage use of public lands for education, recreation, and general health.