Earth Day is a celebration of nature and the environment — a day dedicated to support for environmental protection. This year, Grace Lutheran Church met at the North Carolina Estuarium to offer its help in restoring some of the facility’s flowerbeds.

Jennifer Watkins, the Estuarium’s volunteer coordinator, and her sons Jacob and Oren, met the church’s volunteers April 23 for what Watkins refers to as the “Blessing of the Blooms,” — a day of cleanup and planting flowers and other plants in the beds scattering the grounds of the Estuarium, according to Watkins.

Ben Kifer, pastor of Grace Lutheran, said the church sent eight volunteers to help pull weeds, plant flowers and clean up. The church plans to continue its volunteerism annually. It also hosts highway cleanup projects periodically among its church members, according to Kifer.

“It was just a way for us to celebrate Earth Day,” Kifer said. “We think it’s important for us to help beautify the downtown area, which is why we thought the Estuarium would be a good place to get out in the community and help celebrate God’s creation on Earth Day this year. It’s just a special day where everyone recognizes how important it is to clean up and clear up God’s creation so we can be good stewards of the creation.”

According to Watkins, staff at the Estuarium spent the weeks prior to the event doing prep work, including spreading mulch. Watkins and her sons planted various plants she had set aside and collected from community members who donated items for the project, including wildflowers, ferns, Iris, wild columbine and a small dogwood Watkins’ father had nurtured for her to use. They also helped get the mulch in the beds, as well as plant and water flowers and other plants.

Watkins said the church volunteers contributed native swamp sunflowers, black-eyed Susans and wild bergamot, and they also donated $50 toward the purchase of more native oak leaf hydrangeas to accent plants chosen and cared for by Linda Boyer, who was the Estuarium’s tree and flower guardian before her retirement last year.

“It’s important to take the time to celebrate what (Earth Day) offers to the environment and how it enriches everyone’s lives, and to have volunteers to bring that forth and make it into something real is a living tribute to what we represent here at the Estuarium.”

Watkins pointed out that most children nowadays are not in touch with nature and how important plants and trees are to the environment. Including her sons in the project was a way to get them involved in being stewards of the environment.

“The younger generations are really missing out on being outside, playing outdoors and feeling that connection with touching the ground and insects and learning about native species of plants and trees and their importance to the environment,” Watkins said. “They supply oxygen and are important to insects. Without those native species, we’ll start losing our pollinators, and they’re important because that’s essential in growing food. Most kids don’t know that connection between the farm and food for your family. They don’t understand food is grown in a field or someone’s garden.”

The N.C. Estuarium is located at 223 E. Water St. in Washington.