WATCH NOW: Volunteers build new garden beds at Rescue Ranch |

When the children arrive for spring camp at Rescue Ranch this week, they’ll be able to take part in placing plants in brand new garden beds.

The two garden beds along with freshening up some water-damaged areas along the nature trails are thanks to a group of volunteers who came out Saturday morning.

Joe VanSickle, his wife, Polly and son, John, spent the morning helping build the garden beds. Polly said John was taking part to earn volunteer hours as required as a student at Northview IB. But volunteering is nothing new to the family.

Polly said they began three years ago, volunteering to help at the Halloween event and they’ve come to look forward to their time at the Rescue Ranch. “We love it here,” she said.

Christina Dodge and her husband, Edmund, were also involved in putting the garden beds together. Like the VanSickles, they see it as a labor of love.

While the VanSickles and Dodges were constructing the garden beds, with assistance from Rescue Ranch Education Director Emily Blakey, another group of volunteers was on the nature trails revamping an area that was damaged by the recent heavy rains.

Blakely said both projects will enhance the experience for visitors at the Rescue Ranch.

She said the garden beds will be used by spring campers to plant gardens that will be used to feed some of the animals at the ranch. “We try to be as self-sustaining as possible since we’re a nonprofit,” she said.