Caryolyn Lambright-Davis is highly involved in the Greenbelt community. She has lived in Greenbelt for the last seven years in Franklin Park. She volunteers with a number of Greenbelt organizations. Lambright-Davis is the Convener [Chair] for the Chesapeake Education, Arts and Research Society (CHEARS) and she leads a CHEARS group of students that make up the Earth Squad— an after school program focused on keeping the world green. She teaches Sunday school to 2 & 3rd graders at Eastern Community Church in Landover where she also volunteers with the church’s environmental team of volunteers working to make the church more green.
Before actively volunteering in her community, Lambright-Davis worked as a life-skills instructor for elementary school students in grades 3-5th for Prince George’s County schools.
“Everything I do is aimed to enlighten, empower and expose children and others to the community around them. I want to create a sense that helping others and giving back to your community is fun and rewarding.” says Lambright-Davis.
As an active community volunteer, Lambright-Davis works with and supports community activities at Beltway Plaza like the recent National Night Out, a community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships. In addition to National Night Out, Beltway Plaza hosts events for all ages including a back to school fashion show in the fall, free card making activities for Mother’s and Father’s Day, concerts with genres ranging from jazz, mariachi, and folk, and a free summer movie series at the Academy 8 Theaters. Lambright-Davis uses these events as great opportunities to take groups of students for a fun and free outings.
Lambright-Davis sees Beltway Plaza as much more than a shopping center. To her it is also an anchor to the social life of the Greenbelt west community. She is often at the Silver Diner for social gatherings and group meetings, saying “hi” to her neighbors as she shops at the stores and attends the free community events.
She highly recommends the Beltway Plaza to other citizens of Greenbelt because it is a very family friendly environment with many mom-and-pop stores that are getting harder to spot nowadays. It is easy to get to via local buses. She always feels good about supporting local businesses when she shops at the Beltway Plaza where the staff, including the security team, is always friendly, efficient and courteous.
Another notable about the Beltway Plaza’s support of the community is its Wall of Fame created in 2013 to honored local citizens from Prince George’s County. Inductees include community leaders, educators, sports figures, and members of law enforcement. Two prominent Greenbelt inductees include Judith “J” Davis, Greenbelt Mayor Pro-tem, and the Reverend Dan Hamlin inducted in 2014. Lambright-Davis takes the student groups to the Wall of Fame to show them the “movers and shakers” of Greenbelt—outstanding citizens who really make a difference in the community. The Wall of Fame is a place where local role models are celebrated and the youth are inspired.
It is not hard to see why Lambright-Davis loves being at the Beltway Plaza- it is much more than a shopping center, it is a continually giving back to the surrounding community where she and her family live.
Beltway Plaza, along with the Greenbelt News Review and Paradyme Management, is a sponsor of the Greenbelt Community Foundation’s (GCF) 10th year anniversary celebration campaign, Explore Your Greenbelt. The campaign is a series of monthly events and activities that features organizations GCF has funded in Greenbelt that make a difference in the community.
To help celebrate, the Beltway Plaza is hosting a Back to School Community Family Day, August 27 from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm on the Upper Level in front of Shopper’s World and Big Lots at 6000 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD. WKYS Radio will be on hand to entertain the crowd plus the Plaza’s own Balloon Clown and Plaza Woman will be giving away keys to the Beltway Plaza Treasure Chest. People can win prizes if their key opens the chest. Other prizes can be won by entering the free raffles. Prizes include a trip to Ocean City, Maryland.
All are invited to attend to learn about these organizations and how GCF lives out its mission of “nourishing all of Greenbelt’s Neighborhoods”.