Volunteers Give Landscaping Makeover To Woman Who Maintains Veterans' Memorial
CREST HILL, Ill. (CBS) -- A Crest Hill woman who 25 years ago knocked on doors and gathered names for what would become the town's veterans' memorial is receiving a thank you today.
A team of volunteers from the Home Depot in Homer Glen descended on her home, and started work on a landscaping makeover -- removing bushes, building a garden wall, spreading mulch, planting flowers, and erecting a fountain.
Phyllis Powell and her late husband, Joe, were a driving force behind the memorial's creation, and she still tends the gardens there today, and plants flags on Memorial Day, Veteran's Day and Flag Day. She stood in her yard with tears in her eyes watching the volunteers work.
She said she was overwhelmed.
Home Depot manager Beth Armour said the project is part of the company's plan to spend $80 million in five years to better the lives of veterans, and those who support them.
She said she reached out to State Rep. Natalie Manley (D-Joliet) when looking for a project in the area, and learned about Powell's work on the memorial from the mayor of Crest Hill.
Powell said she couldn't thank them enough.
