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Palmetto Leadership Task Force Project
| Name | Mark J. Talbert | | Situation | As a result of a Palmetto Leadership (Leadership Fairfield) program, a task was recommended that involved landscaping a newly constructed Fairfield County Council On Aging Activities Building. The Council on Aging had neither funds nor expertise to embark upon such an immense project.
| | Response | I assumed the role as coordinator of the task. In that, I first developed the goal not to complete the task, but to involve folks from all walks of life in our small, racially-challenged community---for the expressed purpose of demonstrating how folks can work together to achieve a common goal. I recruited two Master Gardeners, Leah Witt and Linda Rowe, to draw a landscape design. I asked Keep Fairfield Beautiful to help by requesting funds to pay for the plants and materials (by way of a Palmetto Pride grant proposal that they were preparing). They agreed and subsequently were awarded $500 for the expenses. I also asked another MG, John Mattox, to supervise the soil preparation and planting. I recruited Earnest Manning's Horticultural Class, all African-American students, to participate in the planting.
I planned the event for Veterans Day, and recruited State House of Representative Creighton Coleman to formally recognize our veterans, while we planted a Dwarf Magnolia tree in their honor. I arranged for the local newspaper (Herald Independent) to publish two different photo captions of the event. I wrote, submitted, and the paper published, an extensive article explaining the project to circulation of 6000 readers.
| | Impact | As a result of my efforts, members of Leadership Fairfield, Council on Aging, Master Gardeners, Keep Fairfield Beautiful, Fairfield County Career Center Students/Teacher Legislative Body, Palmetto Pride, Herald Independent and The Clemson University Extension Service cooperatively completed the task of landscaping the activity building. Twenty-four volunteers were involved, 13 black, 11 white, reporting a cost/benefit savings of $1040. Five months since the planting, all of the plants are thriving while providing beauty for the enjoyment of the elderly in Fairfield County.
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Last update7/3/2008
This website is maintained by Michelle Holmes.
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