Last weekend, the Garden City School PTO led an effort to deface school property. They had permission, of course, and left the ground far prettier than they found it.

Amanda Forte, a Garden City School PTO board member, reached out to share photos from the school’s Blacktop Beautiful Community Project.

“GCS is preparing to add color and creativity to our brand new blacktop through blacktop stencils,” she announced late last Friday. “The PTO has purchased the stencils and with the generous donations of The Paint Shoppes and Lowe's we have the supplies and are going to begin painting this evening!”

They started painting around 5 p.m. and didn’t quit until they finished.

Future blacktop beautification efforts may be coming to a city school near you.

“In addition to Garden City School we have joined forces with other elementary schools in Cranston and they too will beautify their blacktops,” Forte explained. “The goal is to share the stencils so all students of Cranston can have a vibrant play space. We hope to come together as a community to make our school blacktops more vibrant!”

The Orchard Farms School “will be next, and following them Eden Park,” according to Forte, who heads community outreach for the GCS PTO. “Our amazing PTO volunteers along with a few local officials will be rolling up their sleeves and helping out.”

The helpers wrapped up at Garden City around 11 p.m. on the evening of Sept. 6. They had a baker’s dozen of volunteers pitching in.

“This amazing crew of volunteers did the job of 50+,” Forte said after they were done. “Hard work, determination, and most of all, the unmeasurable love for our children brought this group of volunteers together. Generations to come will enjoy this blacktop! We are beyond grateful for the volunteers.”

According to Forte, the crew couldn’t have finished the project without donations from “John and JoAnne McKenna at The Paint Shoppes, Giavanni at Lowe's Cranston, and the professional help of 1-800-Striper, owned by our very own Garden City dad, Ben Hines!”

The GCS PTO also released a list of contributors from the Garden City community who helped the PTO raise the funds to purchase the stencils: Danielle Parrillo, Amanda Forte, Lauren DeCarvalho, Kristen Scott, Kristen Buonanno, Kate Shackleford, Ashley DeSimone, Brittany Generalli (a GCS teacher and parent), Kelley Stacey, Tim Costa, Scott Phothisane, Bianca Santilli, Meagan Chase, Marcus Stephenson (School Committee, Ward 6), and Ben Hines (owner of Providence's 1-800-STRIPER) and his employee Conner.