YORKTOWN, Va. –
Joint Task Force-Civil Support personnel volunteered their time to the local community to help maintain the grounds of the Nelson House in Yorktown, March 21.
Eleven JTF-CS enlisted Service members and one civilian collected more than 10 bags of leaves, laid new mulch around bushes and completed overall grooming of the grounds.
U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Capps, the JTF-CS senior enlisted leader, said he is always looking for opportunities to get out in the community and lend a helping hand wherever and whenever it is needed.
"The Yorktown Battlefield staff said they could use a hand," said Capps. "We came out here to spend a couple of hours cleaning out flower beds and laying down new mulch."
The historic Nelson House is the former residence of Thomas Nelson, the fourth governor of Virginia and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The Nelson House is one of the most frequently visited sites at the Yorktown Battlefield, one of the three sectors of National Colonial Historic Park. The National Colonial Historic Park is comprised of the Yorktown Battlefield, Historic Jamestown and the Colonial Parkway.
"The historic significance of this area is pretty cool," said Capps. "There is a lot of history here, from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. It's nice to be able to give back the community and help them out when we can."
Mike Byrd, volunteer coordinator at Yorktown Battlefield and Air Force veteran, said he is not surprised by the efforts of members of JTF-CS.
"Military members like to volunteer their time to help out the community," said Byrd. "I have the best job in the world, because I get to work with people like that."
The volunteers' cleanup efforts are significant because the park does not have the staff to continuously keep the grounds of the Nelson House maintained, said Byrd.
"We have a very limited maintenance staff in the park," said Byrd. "When folks volunteer to help us clean up and do these things, it's huge."
This was the first community enhancement endeavor in the Hampton Roads area involving JTF-CS enlisted personnel as a collective group. The unit plans to expand community volunteer work in the future.
The Fort Eustis-based joint task force anticipates, plans and prepares for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense support of civil authority response operations. When directed, the unit deploys to coordinate response to help save lives and prevent further injury after a man-made or natural disaster.