Jeanetta Churchill was eager to join the spruce-up of Margaret Brent Elementary and Middle School in Charles Village Saturday if only to make a statement about her community after a non-fatal shooting near her home.

“I really didn’t appreciate the image being given in the media that this neighborhood is filled with fear,” she said. “I had to show my support. I like my neighborhood.”

The shooting of a 22-year-old man close to where Johns Hopkins University researcher Stephen Pitcairn was fatally stabbed in 2010 dominated the news cycle on Thursday. Police called it “a random act of violence.”

The shooting was clearly on the minds of many residents who joined volunteers from CSX railroad to refurbish the grounds of the school on St. Paul and 26th streets.

“That’s a sad story,” R.C. Johnson said of the shooting, “but this is a good story.” Added Erica Crawley, his work companion, “It’s about the kids. This makes them look forward to coming here instead of all the negativity.”

About 40 residents and 20 middle schoolers from Margaret Brent spent the day working on the improvement project, a turnout that impressed Sharon Daboin, vice president for CSX.

“If anything, I think [the shooting] redoubled the importance of this project. It’s about a community regaining a sense of itself,” she observed.

CSX had planned the service-day event months ago with City Year, a Boston-based nonprofit, as part of its effort to improve the appearance of neighborhoods where the railroad runs.

The company had done earlier fix-ups in Morrell Park, Westport, Curtis Bay and Sharp-Leadenhall, Daboin said, mostly with volunteers from the company.

The railroad has donated 300 trees to the city, 14 of which were planted Saturday along 26th Street on either side of the school by volunteers under the guidance of the Parks and People Foundation.

The tree planters were joined by painters who worked their way between St. Paul and Charles streets recoating an old wrought-iron fence. Below them, CSX freight trains rumbled through an open cut.

Still more volunteers constructed an outdoor classroom complete with chalkboard, benches, planters and a freestanding trellis; repainted the front entrance to Margaret Brent in vivid greens, reds and purple; and established a community garden at the playground along Calvert street.

“I wanted to give something for the community,” said fence painter Debbie Sipes. Destiny Jenkins, 13, a novice bench-builder, was more pragmatic. “I need some more hours for school,” referring to the community hours required of middle schoolers to graduate from Margaret Brent.

Roger Ford came all the way from Grafton, WV. He said he hadn’t heard of the shooting, but that would not have kept him away. “I’m from Baltimore. Born here. I wanted to give back. And it’s a nice road trip coming here.”

By day’s end, organizer Rachel Kitchen noted that everything on her checklist had been accomplished. With a mixture of pride and astonishment, she waved a sheaf of paperwork in her hand and exclaimed, “Look at all the people who created this positive space. Now I’m inspired.”