More than 460 volunteers turned out in northwest Denver April 26 to plant 400 trees in the Sunnyside neighborhood despite blustery, cold conditions.

The project, called Vecindarios Verdes, was a partnership between the Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado and Denver's Park People.

Residents of the area joined VOC regulars, Park People volunteers and crews from AmeriCorps and Denver civic groups in planting a wide variety of trees in the culturally diverse neighborhood.

Project manager Matt Martinez said despite less-than-idea conditions, turnout was great.

"Historically, we have a lot of project day attrition, but we saw little or none of that before the completion of the project."

By the time crews returned to the Aztlan Community Center for pizza and soft drinks in the early afternoon, snow flurries were flying in the brisk wind. One other challenge for the crews was the harder-than-expected ground that greeted those wielding the VOC tools, and a few tools broke.

"One of the biggest things was we got a lot of Quigg-Newton neighborhood participation, " Martinez added.

"More than 50 folks from the neighborhood and several entire families came out and helped the crews and those that were unable to participate because of disabilities were there to voice their appreciation to the crews," he said.

One crew of AmeriCorps volunteers planting in front of public housing units along Mariposa street said they found the work challenging but rewarding. Members of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, the 18-to-24-year-olds work for 10 months working various projects around the country.

"We spend 10 months getting things done for America," said Carmella LoCasio of Akron, Ohio. "We mentor kids, build homes, help the environment, and respond to disasters."

"I enjoy helping others," she added "I'm here to benefit other with my life and as long as I'm doing that, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be in my mind - it's always been a goal of mine to put others before myself."

Mike Hennessey, of Rochester, N.Y., said "It's really nice to being able to do things for the community and help out. With AmeriCorps, we have projects that vary from education, to environmental, to disaster relief to pretty much helping to fulfill any unmet human needs, so we get to do a different array of stuff, and it's nice to be able to work outside too."

For more information on VOC projects in Colorado, visit their Web site http://www.voc.org or call 303-715-1010.

For information on AmeriCorps, visit www.americorps.gov or the AmeriCorps University of Denver site at engage@du.edu