Planting roots of solidarity in Parkmore

It’s true that communities flourish and prosper where there are residents and community members who take the initiative for all the right reasons. In Parkmore, Doreen Fick took it upon herself to spend her birthday adding speckles of beauty to George Lea Park on March 24.

Fick, her daughter Raegen Elizabeth, and sister Ilse Pretorius were hard at work at noon planting spekboom succulents around the gate area of the premises.

“My sister donated all the spekboom to us; I said that on my birthday I will come and give back to my community,” said Fick. “It’s just a passion for Parkmore. I think as you get older, you want to give a little back more often.”

The Fick family joined the Sandton Sports Club in January shortly after their move into the Parkmore community. Immediately, Fick hit the ground running in her effort to simply make the community where her family resides a warm, welcoming and safe place for everyone to share in. Fick said that although it’s small steps, the aim is to engage the community in a meaningful way.

“We decided to just start as volunteers to do these gardens; we also want to start to clean up the wetlands there at the back to make it safe,” said Fick.

Fick has shied away from being the centre of attention, emphasising that the aim was simply to give back to the community by bringing in more beauty to the beloved recreational facility. The opportunity availed a chance for Fick to network her plans among fellow residents.

“As we are working here, we’ve bumped into some people who also live here in Parkmore,” Fick concluded. “We’re hoping to build a little group of volunteers, and just give a little bit of our time. Before we know it, we’ll have a lovely sports field that we can enjoy.”

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