Volunteers Work to Landscape Home of Veteran’s Family

A group of volunteers worked to revitalize the outside of a veteran family’s home in Pennsylvania.

Christine Hite, who is the widow of her late husband George, spent the last ten years caring for him while he had early-onset dementia.

George Hite was a retired U.S. Army chaplain who served since 1981 and ascended to the rank of captain, the Bucks County Courier Times reported.

During that time, she never had time to landscape their home or do other things.

That is when a group of volunteers from two nonprofit organizations — Heroic Gardens and the local Habitat for Humanity chapter — stepped in to help.

The home improvement project was the first project they worked on together to thank the veteran’s family for their service to this country.

“It’s really fun for us to be able to do something we love and impact somebody else’s home,” said Collie Turner, founder of Heroic Gardens.

The project began one year after George Hite’s death.

Christine Hite, who worked as a Navy librarian at the Willow Grove base, said she was grateful for the volunteers as she did not have time to tend to her yard while caring for her husband.

“They really have stepped up to the plate and worked hard for us,” she said of the volunteers.

By the time all of the work is done next year, Christine’s backyard will have a fence with room for her two dogs and four planting beds in the side and front yards.

The planting beds will be filled with perennials, a shade tree, shrubs, and flower bulbs.

Christine Hite said the experience inspired her to think about volunteering herself to help others.

“If I can receive, Lord knows, I surely can give,” she said.