Attending ELEVATE? Don’t Miss This Free Concert Of Award Winning Country Music!

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Charity concerts, recent projects, and volunteer news from Project Evergreen.

Project

Are you attending the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ ELEVATE conference in Orlando on September 18-21? Then don’t miss the free concert featuring the 2022 Academy of Country Music award winners for New Male and Female Artists of the Year, Parker McCollum and Lainey Wilson. Sponsored by Heritage Landscape Supply Group, the Heritage Cares Charity Concert benefits Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Troops and will be held Monday evening, September 19, at the House of Blues. Reserve your ticket here.

NYC Garden Restoration

Project

In late July, more than 25 green industry professional and community volunteers came together as part of Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Communities initiative to revitalize a beloved garden in the Hamilton Heights area of New York City.

Bradhurst Garden has stood for more than 30 years on the site of a former concrete building. Yet despite the tireless efforts of the community garden group and interested neighbors, the annual upkeep was too daunting a task. Accessibility to a shady, cool area to gather in was also desperately needed.

The project – valued at $30,000 – transformed the garden’s accessibility and was the first step to restoring the 5,000 sq. ft. garden to its deserved standing in the community. “I grew up here and I love the peace and serenity it brings me and my family,” said Leanne Williams, president of the Bradhurst Garden Group. “My uncle, Papa Joe, helped build this garden and created a place to bring people together in the community. It’s our pride and joy and now it’s better than ever.”

“A well-maintained green garden that brings cooling relief is vital to this highly populated neighborhood, but over the years it had fallen into disarray,” said Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. “Bringing the community gardeners’ vision to life is possible only through collaboration of individuals, businesses, and community grants. Our professional volunteers love sharing their expertise and giving back to neighborhood parks and gardens.”

Project EverGreen volunteers worked in partnership with NYC Parks Green Thumb to renovate, improve, and expand access to the garden. Gardeners were also awaiting the renovation so they could restore their prized vegetable gardens to feed the community.

Specifics of renovation included:

  • Installed pavers to create new, accessible patio and path from front to back of the garden
  • Pruned trees and bushes
  • Installed more than 150 native perennials and shrubs
  • Mulched the updated planting beds
  • Removed brush and debris
  • Built a new garden pergola

“We were surprised and shocked by the generosity of the donors. This garden is part of our community, it helps bring people together,” said Yvonne “Eve” Bryant, treasurer of the Bradhurst Garden Group. “It’s the greatest thing that ever happened to us. We appreciate everything.”

Lead donors for the project were ConEdison and Mt. Sinai Health System. Industry volunteers and donors included Artisan Gardens, Cast Lighting, Mike Darling Construction, Plant Detectives, SRW Products, Totalscape Design, and Turfs Up Radio. Their professional, donated volunteer time is estimated at $15,000.

Facelift for Cleveland Park

In another recent project, more than 30 professional volunteers teamed up in late June at Helen Simpson Park in Cleveland’s Buckeye neighborhood to provide a much-needed facelift to enhance the aesthetic appearance, vibrancy, environmental impact, and accessibility to this important community gathering space. The project – valued at $25,000 – revitalized the 32,000 sq. ft. park that serves as a vibrant community gathering space.

Borst Landcape & Design Donates Services

A referral from volunteer organization, I Want to Mow Your Lawn, led to Allendale, NJ-based Borst Landscape & Design’s  first year as a GreenCare for Troops volunteer.

“At a green industry conference last fall [our President and Founder Mark Borst] came across the Project EverGreen display and brought some information back with him to present at our marketing meeting. We all agreed it was a great idea,”says Nicole Marsiglia, marketing director at Borst.

Although the military family’s location was on the outer fringe of Borst’s service area, it was close enough to a commercial maintenance client that adding them onto the route would be relatively easy. The company is also willing to serving more military families within their territory.

“As a local business, we’re always donating to or sponsoring various organizations,” says Borst. “The community has provided us incredible support through the years, so it’s important that we support it back. Doing what we do best as part of GreenCare for Troops and seeing the positive impact it’s making firsthand is extra special.”

“The military member is sacrificing to serve and protect our country,” he adds, “and if our lawn care and maintenance program can make deployment just a little bit easier for their family, we’re more than happy to help.”

Volunteer for SnowCare for Troops

Winter is coming! Project EverGreen’s SnowCare for Troops needs volunteers to help military families. Learn more here.