More North Carolina Company Partners Join Project EverGreen In 2012 Year-End Landscaping Donations

Jay Manganaro of ValleyCrest Supervises Arysta LifeScience Volunteers at Hospice of Wake County

Continuing its well-received community revitalization efforts in cities across North Carolina in 2012, Project EverGreen provided four pro bono landscaping donations to needy United Way partner charities state-wide. Three of them were delivered in the Triangle area within just one week’s time during the end-of-the year holidays. All three projects were made possible largely by the professional project management, planning, crew labor, nursery stock and mulch donations provided by Jay Manganaro, ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance Company’s Durham office branch manager.

Nufarm employees plant shrubs at the Raleigh area Girl Scouts offices

Valley Crest joined Project EverGreen and three of its Triangle-based company partner employee volunteers, including: Nufarm Americas in Morrisville, BASF Specialty Products in Research Triangle Park, and Arysta LifeScience North America Turf & Ornamental Products, in Cary. All three companies are past and current NC-based company sponsors of Project EverGreen’s landscaping restoration and enhancement projects.

Nufarm and ValleyCrest volunteers with John Braun, (center) Girl Scouts Property Executive

2012 marked the first year of Nufarm Americas employee volunteers working directly with Project EverGreen and ValleyCrest locally in NC to restore the Raleigh landscape of the Girl Scouts NC Coastal Pines Council Raleigh office, collaborating with John Braun, the onsite Property Executive.

Brian Rund, Project EverGreen’s Nufarm contact, coordinated with his colleagues Bob Bruss, Brian Pike and Amy Chellman, who teamed to help install flowering shrubs and organic mulch to improve and enhance the Girl Scouts Raleigh office grounds and parking areas.

BASF employees plant ground cover to stop runoff at Triangle Chapter Red Cross entry

Similarly, BASF participated for the first time with Project EverGreen to restore a badly-eroded hilly runoff area at the American Red Cross Triangle Chapter offices entry in Raleigh, installing extensive shrubs and ground cover mulch provided by ValleyCrest contractors.

ValleyCrest manager supervises BASF volunteers applying pine needle mulch

In part, as a result of their successful landscaping donation in Raleigh, BASF also joined with Project EverGreen in a similar community service donation by over 130 of its employee volunteers to improve and enhance two high-visibility parks during their annual winter meeting in San Antonio, Texas , collaborating with the City of San Antonio Mayor’s office, Parks & Recreation, the Texas ValleyCrest Company, Texas Nursery & Landscape Association and local Palo Alto College horticulture student volunteers.

Arysta LifeScience volunteers install Bedding plants at Hospice of Wake County

2012 was the third year of Arysta LifeScience North America employee volunteers’ participation with Project EverGreen’s landscaping donation projects. Arysta LifeScience employees provided planting and mulching support to assist the ValleyCrest crew and account managers in improving the perimeter grounds and parking areas at the Raleigh site of Hospice of Wake County’s offices, benefiting their hospice patients’ and employees’ views of the enhanced surroundings.

ValleyCrest crew employees donate trees, shrubs and labor to enhance Hospice of Wake County grounds

“Linking landscaping restoration and renewal requests from charitable agencies, city parks & recreation departments and schools with Project EverGreen’s green industry company partners and professional contractor volunteers, is how we coordinate with private and public sector donors to revitalize NC community green spaces,” said Michael Joyce, GreenCare for Communities National Projects Director. n

Sally Daley, Charlotte Girl Scouts CEO with Girl Scouts Property Director and Staff at The Oak Springs Camp Landscaping Donation

In the Charlotte area, Project EverGreen coordinated with Mark Lay, President of AA-Tex Lawn Company in Matthews, who developed a landscaping plan and provided crews, nursery stock and installation equipment, Charlotte-based Husqvarna Outdoor Equipment Group, and the Girl Scouts Oak Springs Camp Property Director’s staff, all teaming to improve and enhance the Charlotte Girl Scouts Hornet’s Nest Council Oak Springs camp residents’ cabins in the late fall.

AA-Tex Lawn Service and Husqvarna volunteers planted a Total of over 60 trees and shrubs at the Oak Springs Camp residents cabins

The Girl Scouts Oak Springs Camp Property Management Staff donated an estimated 30 truckloads of organic mulch, while AA-Tex also provided their landscape architect for the landscaping design and crew supervision, as well as the planning installation of 25 new trees and 36 flowering shrubs for the project.

Husqvarna Outdoor Equipment Group volunteers and AA-Tex Lawn Service crew applied 30 truckloads of organic mulch

The Husqvarna Outdoor Equipment Group provided the needed ground care power equipment and safety tools onsite, as well as providing numerous employee volunteers to help spread the truckloads of hard bark mulch onsite.

Husqvarna has also planned a trail-cutting tool training demonstration onsite at Oak Springs to insure safe and proper use by the Camp grounds staff, and also generously donating the equipment used in the demonstration at no cost to the Girl Scouts. Husqvarna’s donations of volunteers and power equipment will be put to good use by the Girl Scouts Property Director’s staff, since the Oak Springs Environmental Leadership Center and Camp is a 725 acre facility north of Charlotte that administers its programs to an average of 16,000 local Girl Scout campers from all backgrounds annually.

Looking forward, Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Communities initiative has scheduled additional landscaping renovations in the Piedmont Triad area, planned in late 2012 and set for installation in the spring of 2013. Project EverGreen has coordinated these landscaping restorations in partnership with Greensboro-based Syngenta Lawn & Garden company partner volunteers, Nature’s Select Premium Turf Services in Winston-Salem and New Garden Nursery in Greensboro. The sites in development include the Cancer Services Center in Winston-Salem, a partner agency of the United Way of Forsyth County, the Downtown Greenway bike path and trail, and an outdoor classroom installation at Southeast Middle School, both in Greensboro.

Project EverGreen is a non-profit alliance of green industry lawn and landscaping professionals, associations and companies, dedicated to informing the public about the environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits of healthy green spaces, where we live, work and play. In 2012, in addition to Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Communities landscaping restorations and renewals in North Carolina, local volunteer initiatives also included GreenCare for Troops, and the Art of GreenSpaces Contest, to benefit Guilford County and Wake County Public Schools arts education programs.

Five NC City Mayors Proclaim ‘June, 2012: Project EverGreen Month’ in Support of Green Care Industry Education and Advocacy Efforts

Project EverGreen, now in its third year in North Carolina, has announced that Mayor Anthony Foxx of Charlotte has recently joined Mayor Bill Bell of Durham, Mayor Robbie Perkins of Greensboro, Mayor Nancy McFarlane of Raleigh, and Mayor Allen Joines of Winston-Salem in officially proclaiming June, 2012 as ‘Project EverGreen Month’ in their respective cities. Project EverGreen is a non-profit, educational alliance of professional lawn and landscape contractors, associations, green industry supplier partner companies and homeowner volunteers, dedicated to educating the public about the benefits and value of healthy, well-maintained yards, parks and athletic fields across North Carolina and nationwide.

2012 Winston-Salem June Project EverGreen Month

2012 Raleigh Mayoral Proclamation

2012 Greensboro Mayoral Proclamation

2012 Durham Mayoral Proclamation

2012 Charlotte Project Evergreen Month Proclamation

The mayoral proclamations mark the official 2012 start of Project EverGreen’s ongoing green industry advocacy efforts in NC, which include donating pro bono professional landscaping renovations and lawn care services to needy recipients to improve and enhance green spaces in local NC communities, through three key initiatives:

1. GreenCare for Troops - Project EverGreen sponsors and manages GreenCare for Troops in North Carolina as part of its nationwide outreach program pairing needy military families with family members currently serving overseas with local landscape contractor volunteers to provide free lawn care and landscaping services.
Since its inception, the program has connected more than 4,000 professional contractor volunteers donating free lawn care services to support over 10,000 military families with spouses serving overseas.

In April of this year, GreenCare for Troops was honored on the south lawn at the White House by first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, at a ceremony that celebrated organizations and programs that benefit military families. The event was part of the White House’s Joining Forces initiative. Led by Michelle Obama, the program recognized 20 organizations and communities dedicated to supporting military families throughout the country in various ways.

In May, 2012 in North Carolina, GreenCare for Troops teamed with Ideal Landscaping and Irrigation in Greensboro and Nature’s Select Premium Turf Services in Winston-Salem to donate landscaping and patio installations to a military family in Harmony, NC. GreenCare for troops has also connected Triangle and Ft. Bragg area military families needing pro bono lawn care with Turftenders Landscape Services in Raleigh, who have donated free lawn care maintenance to approximately 20 military families since 2010. In the Charlotte area, AA-Tex Lawn Company in Matthews donates free lawn care to local military families, as does Southern Lawn Care in Shelby, NC. The GreenCare for Troops Program is underwritten by Cub Cadet Commercial.

2. GreenCare for Communities – Project EverGreen coordinates with its NC network of professional contractors and NC-based green industry company partners, jointly volunteering their employees and services to renovate urban green areas, collaborating with local United Way organizations to identify needy charity partner agencies.

In 2010, GreenCare for Communities in the Triad included coordinated donations with Nature’s Select Premium Turf Services in Winston-Salem, Greensboro Parks & Rec, and Syngenta Lawn & Garden employee volunteers, to provide pro bono landscaping renovations to Greensboro’s Green Hill Cemetery, a 120 year-old historic landmark,; and in 2011 to the Penn-Griffin Magnet Arts School in High Point, part of a National Historic District.

In the Triangle area, Project EverGreen teamed with Cary-based Arysta LifeScience North America employees, United Way of the Greater Triangle and Raleigh Parks & Rec in 2010 to renovate the outdoor meeting area at Haven House Youth Services in Raleigh. In 2011 the non-profit again partnered with Arysta LifeScience and ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance in Durham, to jointly donate employee volunteers and services to enhance the grounds at Life Experiences in Cary, another United Way partner agency, providing businesses that create fulfilling employment for adults with developmental disabilities.

For fall, 2012, Project EverGreen is partnering with AA-Tex Lawn in Matthews, NC to plan and install a similar landscaping donation of shrubs and ornamental plants for the Charlotte Girl Scouts, Hornet’s Nest Council at its Oak Springs camp grounds. Also planned are landscaping renovations with Arysta LifeScience in Cary, Syngenta in Greensboro and similar contractor volunteers and corporate partner participants in the Triangle area.

3. The Art of GreenSpaces Contest: - In 2011 and 2012, Project EverGreen has managed the Art of Green Spaces Contest in collaboration with the arts education curriculum administrator for the Raleigh/Wake County Public Schools and in 2012, added the Greensboro/Guilford County Schools. The contest’s goal is open to arts ed teachers and students in all grades, encouraging students to create visual arts, creative writing, music, and dance and drama video entries, expressing the importance of healthy yards, landscapes and recreational areas to their communities and to their quality of life. Winning entries are acknowledged publicly and earn cash awards donated directly to their participating schools, earmarked for their arts education programs.

Raleigh Landscape Service Donates Lawn Care to NC Military Families Through GreenCare for Troops

Military families face many challenges to their households when a family member is serving overseas on active duty. Maintaining lawns and landscapes becomes an even harder task, while also managing kids, pets and jobs. To help, Project EverGreen, an educational alliance of green industry associations, companies and volunteers, created GreenCare for Troops, a nationwide outreach program that coordinates with participating lawn care companies to provide free lawn and landscape maintenance for local military families in need. Since 2006, GreenCare for Troops has registered over 11,000 families and connected them to over 4,000 professional lawn care company volunteers nationwide.

In eastern North Carolina, Project EverGreen has partnered since 2010 with Turftenders Landscape Services in Raleigh, a local professional lawn care service whose employees gladly donate their time and skills to support numerous of military families at no cost. In that time and up to now, Turftenders estimates it has provided free lawn care to an average of five to nine military families a year, (due to returning troops) totaling over 20 military families overall. Its maintenance crews also cover considerable distances, ranging from FT. Bragg/Fayetteville to Triangle area communities, including Holly Springs, Raeford and Durham. Currently, 2012military families served reside in Fayetteville and Raeford.

Project EverGreen assisted Turftenders’ efforts by coordinating with Bayer Environmental Science in Research Triangle Park, who donated a dedicated GreenCare for Troops equipment trailer, to be customized by Turftenders for their military lawn care donations. In addition, Project EverGreen helped secure lawn maintenance equipment loaned for Turftenders’ GreenCare for Troops activities, including Toro and Walker mowers, and blowers, edgers and trimmers from Husqvarna in Charlotte.

In addition to enhancing the environment and improving community green spaces, providing pro bono professional lawn care services to military families is an important part of Turftenders mission. “This is a heartfelt project to build long term relationships for us here at Turftenders,” said Steve Hill, Turftenders president. “It’s these long term relationships that encourage us to give back to our community and is one small way we will continue to give back to troops, who are risking their lives to keep us secure, as well as to their families in difficult times,” Hill added. “We volunteer and contribute not only to Project Evergreen but also participate in Renewal and Remembrance Day each year at Arlington Cemetery,” noted Hill.

While Military family names and locations served by Turftenders are undisclosed for security reasons, typical comments received reflect deep appreciation for their donated lawn care services, for example one family stated:
“Thank you very much for helping my wife. I know it is tough on her when I am gone but every little bit helps…. Again, thanks to you and your team for helping my family during this deployment. We are extremely thankful for what you guys have done for us.” Another family reported: “Amazing job they are doing on my yard. Words will never express how grateful I am to you for all of your hard work! Thank you so much and God Bless!”

Project EverGreen is a non-profit educational foundation of allied green industry associations, companies and professional volunteers, dedicated to educating the public about the environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits of healthy lawns, landscapes, parks, recreation and sports fields.

Project EverGreen’s Art of GreenSpaces Contest Donates Awards to Raleigh/Wake County Schools Student Art Entries

Raleigh, NC – (June 7, 2012) – Project EverGreen, a national, non-profit green industry educational alliance, in collaboration with Elizabeth Grimes-Droessler, Arts Education Senior Administrator for Wake County Public Schools, has announced Special Recognition awards for participating elementary, middle and high school student artwork entries in Project EverGreen’s 2012 North Carolina Art of GreenSpaces Contest.

The contest was produced by Project EverGreen, and open to all Wake County Public Schools and grade levels, to submit original works of art interpreting and expressing the theme of how healthy lawns, yards, landscapes, parks and sports fields benefit their lives, their community and their environment.

In 2012, approximately 75 WCPSS schools’ art student entries to the NC Art of GreenSpaces Contest were submitted by elementary, middle, and high school arts teachers in the categories of: Painting, Photography, Videos, original Music, and Dance or Drama. Participating arts education teachers and students whose art entries were judged as meriting Special Recognition earned $250 cash awards donated by Project EverGreen, paid directly to the participating schools, earmarked for their unrestricted future arts education program use. The total amount Project EverGreen donated was $1,500, based on the number of student artworks selected by Ms. Droessler and her arts education curriculum administration team. Participating WCPSS arts education teachers also receive professional commendations from Ms. Droessler.
“In 2012, we saw the Art of GreenSpaces Competition program could inspire students’ creative expression by offering multiple art forms to express their awareness and appreciation of how healthy green spaces contribute to their environment and their overall quality of life,” said Ms. Grimes-Droessler. “It offered participating students recognition for their work, and enabled participating schools to receive financial awards to augment their arts education projects budget. In addition, the program meets new professional arts education teacher evaluation metrics now in place. So it’s a win for everyone involved,” Grimes-Droessler added.

Project EverGreen is a national, non-profit alliance of green industry associations, companies, professionals and homeowner volunteers, dedicated to educating the public about the environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits of healthy yards, lawns, landscapes, parks, and athletic fields.

In addition to the Art of GreenSpaces Contest, other core Project EverGreen initiatives in North Carolina include GreenCare for Troops, providing free lawn care to military families with spouses serving overseas, and GreenCare for Communities, donating pro bono urban landscape renovations to needy schools, institutions or United Way of the Greater Triangle partner agencies. Raleigh area students, homeowners, and companies interested in volunteering their support of Project EverGreen initiatives in NC, can learn more and register at www.projectevergreen.com

Project EverGreen’s Art of GreenSpaces Contest Donates Awards to Greensboro & Guilford County Schools Winners

Greensboro, NC – (June 8, 2012) – Project EverGreen, a national, non-profit green industry educational alliance, in collaboration with Nathan Street, Arts Education Curriculum Specialist and Program Manager – Summer Arts Institute at Guilford County Schools, has announced first-second-and third place awards for participating elementary, middle and high school student artwork entries in Project EverGreen’s 2012 North Carolina Art of GreenSpaces Contest.

The contest was produced by Project EverGreen, and open to all Guilford County Schools and grade levels, to submit original works of art interpreting and expressing the theme of how healthy lawns, yards, landscapes, parks and sports fields benefit their lives, their community and their environment.

In 2012, the first year of The Art of GreenSpaces Contest pilot program in GCS, nearly 25 arts education students’ artwork entries were submitted by elementary, middle, and high school arts teachers for their students in Painting and Photography. Participating arts education teachers whose students’ art entries were judged by the Arts Education Curriculum Specialist’s office as meriting recognition, earned cash awards of $100 for first place, $50 for second place and $25 for third place. All awards were donated by Project EverGreen, paid directly to the participating schools, earmarked for their unrestricted future arts education program use.

“In 2012, the Art of GreenSpaces Competition program inspired students’ creative expression through art forms that express their awareness of the benefits value of how healthy yards, landscapes, parks and sports fields contribute to their environment, their neighborhoods and quality of life,” said Mr. Street. “It offered participating students acknowledgement for their work, and earned for their schools financial awards to augment their arts education projects budget. The program may also meet professional arts ed teacher evaluation metrics. So it’s a win for everyone involved,” Street added.

Project EverGreen is a national, non-profit alliance of green industry associations, companies, professionals and homeowner volunteers, dedicated to educating the public about the environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits of healthy yards, lawns, landscapes, parks, and athletic fields.

In addition to the Art of GreenSpaces Contest, other core Project EverGreen initiatives in North Carolina include GreenCare for Troops, providing free lawn care to military families with spouses serving overseas, and GreenCare for Communities, donating pro bono urban landscape renovations to needy schools, institutions or United Way of the Greater Triad partner agencies.

Ideal Landscaping & Irrigation and Nature’s Select Turf Services Join GreenCare for Troops to Donate Landscaping to Local Military Family

(top) Crews install the firepit. (bottom) Shannon Carmack and two of her sons pose at the fire pit with Aaron Snell, second from left, and other members of the crew that helped landscape the Carmack's yard.

Greensboro, NC –(May 9, 2012) – When Aaron Snell, owner of Ideal Landscaping & Irrigation, Inc., in Greensboro, first heard of Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Troops program, the opportunity to participate seemed made to order. GreenCare for Troops coordinates with landscape contractors and individual volunteers nationwide to donate yard care and lawn maintenance for military families whose spouses are deployed overseas.

“I had wanted to get involved in some sort of charity, and have always been interested in the military.” Snell said, “My grandfather fought in World War II and I like reading his journals and hearing his stories and also watching the military channel. By working through GreenCare for Troops, I am not just giving money, but know that what I am doing directly helps a family.”

Snell’s friend, Gene Queen of Nature’s Select Premium Turf Services, Inc., in Winston-Salem, told Snell about GreenCare for Troops and connected him with Michael Joyce, North Carolina project manager for the Project EverGreen. “When I learned I could donate landscaping for a local military family, I knew just the person – Keith Carmack,” Snell said. “He was our company’s sales rep when he worked at Sedgefield Outdoor Equipment and is a really nice guy.”

Snell wanted to surprise Carmack with the work. So he took a crew and joined Queen and his crew for a lawn makeover blitz. John Deere Landscape on Gallimore Dairy Road donated a large portion of the materials for the project. The group built a patio and fire pit that Carmack had long wanted, as well as pruning, mulching, edging, landscaping all flowerbeds and seeding and fertilizing the lawn.

Front yard landscaping donation.

“You might call what we did a mini “Extreme Landscape Makeover,” Snell said. “By putting the crews together, we completed a three-day job in one day.”
At the end of the day, the Carmack family, Keith’s father-in-law, and the workers roasted marshmallows at the new fire pit, providing those who had worked on the project the opportunity to see the family enjoying it. “I sent pictures to Keith and he was ecstatic,” Snell said. “It was nice to put a smile on his face when he was a world away. He’s excited to think about coming home and relaxing on his new patio. It makes him feel appreciated for what he does.”

As a professional contractor, Snell said he is particularly interested in doing landscape and hardscape installation projects, and hopes to complete at least one a year. “I like doing something that has a lasting impact to be enjoyed for years to come,” he said. “I plan to continue helping GreenCare for Troops support military families. I like interacting and helping someone I have met along the way.”

GreenCare for Troops program honors military
GreenCare for Troops is a nationwide outreach program initiated in 2006 by Dennis P. Gardner, former executive director of Project EverGreen. The program connects participating lawn and landscape contractors and local volunteers with military families whose spouses are serving overseas. The goal is to ease the burden of landscape maintenance for spouses of military families.

Based in New Prague, Minnesota, Project EverGreen is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to educate the public about the benefits and value of healthy yards, representing green industry service providers, associations, companies and individuals.
Cub Cadet Commercial underwrites the GreenCare for Troops Program.

To date, more than 11,000 military families and more than 4,000 volunteers nationwide have registered with the program. To participate as a family in need of lawncare, or to volunteer to ease this burden for a military family, complete and submit a short online registration form, which can be found at www.projectevergreencom/gcft. Donations are welcome.

Project EverGreen teams with ValleyCrest, Arysta LifeScience

ValleyCrest, ArystaLifeScience, United Way and Project EverGreen Volunteers

CARY, NC — Project EverGreen, a national, non-profit Green industry consumer educational foundation, has announced its recent coordination with ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance in Durham, NC, and Cary-based Arysta LifeScience, to jointly donate their employee volunteers and services to enhance and improve the grounds at Life Experiences, a United Way of the Greater Triangle partner agency in Cary.

Life Experiences Inc. is a non-profit organization that blends education, training and the free enterprise system to create and operate businesses that provide fulfilling employment for adults with developmental disabilities, allowing them the self-esteem of earning a wage for their work and functioning as independent, productive citizens of the Triangle.

“Several years ago, Life Experiences opened a new facility in Cary to offer our employees/clients the best in vocational opportunities and work environments,” says Executive Director Mary Madenspacher. “The generosity of everyone involved in this landscape donation helps us to beautify our work space, and further extend what we can accomplish within our limited budget.”

Project EverGreen is a non-profit alliance of Green Industry professionals, associations and companies who are dedicated to informing the public about the environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits of healthy lawns and landscaped green spaces, now and for future generations.

“Project EverGreen volunteer initiatives in NC include GreenCare for Troops, Art of GreenSpaces in Schools contests, and GreenCare for Communities, such as the Life Experiences landscaping donation,” says Michael Joyce, Project EverGreen NC project manager.

Jay Manganaro, branch manager of ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance in Durham, volunteered his professional staff time and labor, as well as donating and installing the nursery stock and pine straw mulch needed to complete the landscape restoration along with Arysta LifeScience employees.

“Our company mission is to be a viable part of the communities we serve, and it’s a natural partnership for us to contribute to sustaining a healthy, green environment for the employees at Life Experiences” Manganaro says.

Arysta LifeScience North America, serving Turf & Ornamental and Agricultural markets, is headquartered in Cary, employing approximately 70 people at this location. Several employees volunteered their time to help install shrubs and provide maintenance to existing plants and trees at Life Experiences.

“Arysta LifeScience actively supports Project EverGreen and United Way agencies in this community outreach. It makes a difference to the companies involved and to needy organizations in the Triangle when we can help a project like this,” says Annetta Johnson, head of human resources at Arysta LifeScience North America and Life Experiences landscape volunteer. “Our core values include contributing to society and the environment, so we’re particularly pleased to help improve green spaces right here in our local community.”

United Way of the Greater Triangle connected Project EverGreen and Arysta LifeScience with Life Experiences as a United Way agency partner in need of landscaping.

“Having our agency partners succeed in work and life is a key component of our Wake County Community Action Plan,” says Ed Brennan, relations manager at United Way of the Greater Triangle. “Linking the Life Experiences grounds renovation request with Arysta LifeScience and ValleyCrest is an example of how we mobilize with local company donors and volunteers to help meet our community needs.”

Project EverGreen Partners with Nature’s Select Turf Services and Syngenta to Donate Landscaping to Historic Penn-Griffin Arts School

Greensboro, N.C. – (November 19, 2011) – Project EverGreen, a national, non-profit green industry educational foundation, announced it has recently coordinated with Nature’s Select Premium Turf Services staff in Winston-Salem and Greensboro-based Syngenta employees, joining faculty and student volunteers donating their time and services to enhance and improve the grounds at the Penn-Griffin Arts Magnet School in High Point.

William Penn-Alfred J. Griffin School for the Arts is a 120 year-old, public arts magnet school situated in a historic, locality, now a designated part of a new National Historic District. “The grounds around the school have been sadly neglected over the years, which has had an effect on our campus“, according to Linda Willard, administrative assistant at Penn-Griffin. Willard reached out to Steve Dorer, local Territory Manager at Syngenta, for help to upgrade landscaping on the campus and replace old, outdated plants with newer, native plants that would be more drought- resistant, to reduce water usage. “The generosity of Nature’s Select and Project EverGreen to fund the project, along with our faculty and student volunteers and Syngenta employees involved in this landscape installation, helps us to beautify our outdoor environment and make it a more pleasant and inviting place to learn and to visit”, Willard added.

Project EverGreen is a non-profit alliance of green industry professionals, associations and company volunteers, dedicated to informing the public about the environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits of healthy lawns, landscapes and recreational urban green spaces. “Coordinating with Nature’s Select and Syngenta Lawn & Garden exemplifies how we organize local company donors to help meet community needs,” stated Michael Joyce, Project EverGreen NC project manager. Other Project EverGreen initiatives in NC include GreenCare for Troops, The Art of GreenSpaces in Schools arts contest and GreenCare for Communities green space rehabs such as the Penn-Griffin landscaping donation.

Gene Queen, owner of Nature’s Select Premium Turf Services in Winston-Salem, volunteered their professional staff time and labor to plan and supervise the installation, as well as donating extensive nursery stock and mulch needed for the landscape restoration. “Our company’s mission is to preserve and enhance our community green spaces, and facilitating the Penn-Griffin School landscape renovation is one way we’re glad to help sustain a healthy, green environment for current and future students at Penn-Griffin,” Queen said.

Syngenta Lawn & Garden is a leading supplier of products and services to the green industry. “We are a corporate partner and sponsor of Project EverGreen and actively support this community green space effort,” said Margaret Bell, Syngenta senior marketing communications manager, and executive committee member of Project EverGreen. “Our corporate responsibility commitments include making a positive contribution to the communities where we work and live, so we’re especially pleased to assist Nature’s Select in this effort to improve the grounds of Penn-Griffin school, a historic, educational treasure right here in the Triad, ” Bell added.

North Carolina Mayors Proclaim June, 2011 ‘Project EverGreen Month’ in Support of Professional Green Industry Advocacy Efforts

June 13, 2011 –
Project EverGreen is now in its second year in North Carolina and the Mayors of Durham, Raleigh, Greensboro and Winston-Salem have all officially declared June, 2011 as ‘Project EverGreen Month’ in their respective cities. This marks the official 2011 start of the non-profit’s efforts in NC to donate its GreenCare for Communities initiatives at no charge to recipients to help improve and enhance urban landscape renovations in cities within the NC I-40 corridor. The mission of Project EverGreen is to raise public awareness of the environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits of healthy lawns, landscapes, parks and athletic fields.
Click Here to Download the Durham Proclamation (PDF)
Click Here to Download the Raleigh Proclamation (PDF)
Click Here to Download the Winston-Salem Proclamation (PDF)
Click Here to Download the Greensboro Proclamation (PDF)

In 2010, pro bono landscaping restorations were completed at Greensboro’s Green Hill Cemetery, a 120 year-old historic and environmental landmark, by Syngenta Lawn & Garden employee volunteers teaming with Nature’s Select landscape contractors in Winston-Salem, City of Greensboro Parks & Rec Department and Friends of Green Hill association.

Arysta LifeScience North America in Cary employees also joined last summer with United Way of the Greater Triangle and City of Raleigh Parks & Rec to help renovate the outdoor landscape at Haven House Youth Services in Raleigh, a United Way partner agency. These projects helped build NC awareness of Project EverGreen’s volunteer landscape donations to needy facilities, via corresponding local newspaper, TV News, Project EverGreen newsletters and NC trade association articles.

In 2011, Project EverGreen in NC again will collaborate with Triangle and Triad cities’ Parks & Rec departments, local green industry company employees and professional contractor volunteers to identify local NC community needs and donate a number of blighted area renovations for pro bono “green-up” projects. To sign up as a professional landscaper homeowner or student volunteer, just visit www.projectevergreen.com/nc

Project EverGreen also coordinates GreenCare for Troops in North Carolina, as part of its nationwide outreach program connecting nearly 3,500 professional landscaper volunteers donating free landscape services to as many as 11,000 military families with spouses serving overseas. This year, GreenCare for Troops In NC has already teamed with Turftenders Landscape Services in the Raleigh and Ft. Bragg areas, AA-Tex Lawn Company in Charlotte and Southern Lawn Care in Shelby to provide lawn care at no charge to needy military families. The GreenCare for Troops Program is underwritten by Cub Cadet Commercial. To sign up or volunteer, visit www.projectevergreen.com/gcft

Further, In 2011, Project EverGreen is also working with Wake County Public Schools this fall to announce the winning schools’ entries for the 2011 Art of Green Spaces in Schools Competition. The contest’s goal is to encourage students in all grades to create visual art, creative writing, music, dance and drama entries depicting why green spaces are important to their lives and their communities. Winning art entries will earn cash awards donated directly to their schools and have the students’ work recognized via an awards ceremony local news articles. For more information about the Art of Green Spaces Competition, please contact Michael Joyce, NC Project Manager at 336.327.6868.

GreenCare for Troops Reaches Charlotte

Watch how GreenCare for Troops helped the family of Charlotte, N.C. resident James Anderson, who currently overseas serving our country in the U.S. Navy.