More than two dozen Sailors assigned to Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Baltimore joined students and local volunteers to plant gardens at the Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens in Baltimore, Maryland, May 27.

The annual beautification project, started in 2011, is part of NOSC Baltimore's ongoing volunteer community service program. The Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens, open to the public since 1988, is home to the second oldest municipal glass conservatory in the United States and displays plants from around the world.

"The Navy started the annual event," said Kate Blom, conservatory supervisor, Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens. "Four years ago the conservatory experienced budget cuts and we didn't have staff to maintain our grounds. That's when Sailors volunteered to help."

Armed with shovels and rakes, the Sailors worked side-by-side with about 100 students from the city's Frederick Douglas High School, Baltimore Lab School and Edgecombe Circle Elementary School to plant gardens on the conservatory's grounds.

"It was a great opportunity to work with the students," said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Evangelia Mavrogiorgos, a U.S. Navy Reserve Sailor and Silver Spring, Maryland, resident. "I enjoyed working with them to make the city more beautiful."

For members of the conservatory's staff, having the Sailors to help keep the botanical garden in top shape was greatly appreciated.

"We're so thankful and overwhelmed to see so many people who care," said Blom. "The conservatory means so much to many people in Baltimore. To me, the Sailors are angels who came here to do a lot of good."

Sailors volunteering in the day-long project said they're looking forward to coming back next year.

"It's a great event and it's important to volunteer and help the community," said Master Chief Utilitiesman Richard Heiland, a Navy Reservist who lives in New Market, Maryland. "We're Navy. Volunteering is part of who we are; it's what we do."

For more news from Commander, Navy Reserve Force, visit www.navy.mil/.