Welcome to the September-October fall issue of the Project EverGreen Update. The organization is creating news on a variety of fronts, and we’d like to share it all with you…our biggest supporters!
Please click on the links to read more about our latest news and events. Thank you for your support!
By: Den Gardner
Executive Director
Wow. “Summer Rain” taps on my window, but “It’s a Beautiful Morning.” So, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” and how is it that summer is almost gone? I sure know I’ll “See You in September.” While we casually walk through the “Rain, the Park and Other Things,” I can’t help but reflect on all the positive activity by Project EverGreen in these past few months.
And I refuse to get the “Summertime Blues,” even though it’s going to be gone shortly. Not when we’ve had such a positive “Summer in the City.” OK, so New Prague’s not really a city, but a nice little community.
As we move into the final third of 2010, look at what’s been accomplished:
GreenCare for Communities is now active in Akron, Milwaukee and the I-40 Corridor between Raleigh and Greensboro, N.C. We’re also ready to search for our next city by creating a “Request for Proposal” for state and/or regional groups to bid on Project EverGreen’s backing in their communities. Last week Project EverGreen sent the request for proposal to dozens of state associations. Already we have received feedback from several interested in applying for our grant.
Speaking of GreenCare for Communities, we now have our GreenCare for Communities Playbook available on our website. Now, any community organization or state green industry stakeholder group can go to www.projectevergreen.com and see how to get started. We are hopeful that they will contact us for more specifics, but the template is there.
And how about GreenCare for Troops? We now have more than 10,000 military families in our database and nearly 3,000 volunteers. Plus, Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs show and efforts by Cub Cadet to promote this program have brought many more volunteers and military families into the fold.
The special GreenCare for Troops/Project EverGreen hostas created by Walters Gardens are now available at thousands of independent retail garden outlets across the country. We get 25 cents returned to Project EverGreen for each one sold. Thanks again to Walters Gardens for their help in this initiative. We hope to raise thousands of dollars.
We are still working with Birds and Blooms magazine to see about a national contest for youth through our Art of Green Spaces Program. We are working with the Reader’s Digest folks on this program (publishers of Birds and Blooms).
We’ve had some encouraging discussions with the folks at The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) about looking at curriculum ideas. Our efforts with Future Farmers of America (FFA) have stalled somewhat (recession, etc.), and TFI has some excellent materials in the agricultural arena that can have some application for the green industry. We are working with Swanson Russell (agency for TFI and Project EverGreen, as you know) to see what might be created.
The SnowCare for Troops Program also kicked off in July through the assistance of The BOSS Snowplow, the underwriter of the program. We hope many of you landscaper contractors out there who do snow plowing in the winter can sign up for this program as well. And speaking of snow…“Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.” You knew I’d get here!
Hope you have friends (or colleagues or customers or key employees or even enemies) who didn’t get Project EverGreen’s very own Christmas CD: A Big EverGreen Christmas last year. We sold almost 350 copies, and all of the proceeds were pure profit for Project EverGreen: about $8,500! We have plenty left and are planning on a final year of sales. We hope you can buy some additional copies.
I know there’s even more to share with you, but these are some of our recent highlights. And did you know that we made our revenue budget for the year? Thanks to all of you, plus some special new contributions, added contributions in the I-40 Corridor and the new SnowCare for Troops Program, our numbers take us to about $425,000 in contributions for 2010.
We continue to be excited about our future. Yes, we’re “Feeling Stronger Every Day,” and know that by “Taking Care of Business” we are meeting the needs of our stakeholders and providing consumers with much-needed information so they can continue to smell the “Green, Green Grass of Home” on a regular basis.
Cindy Code, Norman Goldenberg and I are working diligently to make Cindy’s transition to executive director of this great organization smooth, and we will keep you apprised of any information in this regard as well.
Although it’s a little early to croon “Happy Trails to You,” have these past seven years gone by fast or what? The next four months will find us continuing our efforts to do what’s best for Project EverGreen “In the Long Run.”
Portion of Proceeds Will Go to the Program
Walters Gardens, Inc. has stepped up to support GreenCare for Troops by agreeing to donate 25 cents for every Hosta ‘American Hero’ sold to the worthy cause.
Walters Gardens, based in Zeeland, Mich., is the largest wholesale grower of bare-root perennials in the United States. The wholesaler offers more than 1,000 perennials and adds about 100 each year to its collection, one of which this year was the Hosta ‘American Hero.’
The hosta is tough and durable, much like the soldiers it honors. It displays strong, bold variegation all season long. Its leaves have wide, dark-green margins and a creamy white center speckled with green. The thick leaves form a very dense clump, and as the plant matures they become somewhat twisted. Lavender flowers top the clump in midsummer.
Visit www.waltersgardens.com for more information.
Feature on the Discovery Channel Helps Raise Awareness
GreenCare for Troops registered its 10,000th military family in the second quarter of 2010, thanks in large part to some down and dirty publicity. Through May 31, 1,056 military families registered this year alone to have their lawns managed by local participating lawn care professionals. April was a particularly strong month for new registrations, when more than 400 military families signed up for the program. The rise in participation is attributed to our cause being featured in late February on the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs with celebrity host Mike Rowe. In the three-month span following the airing, from March to May, more than 875 families registered.
GreenCare for Troops is always on the lookout for more volunteers to serve these 10,000-plus military families in need. Since the program’s inception in 2006, more than 2,800 volunteers have agreed to help their local military families with lawn care services.
Visit www.projectevergreen.com/gcft to watch GreenCare for Troops on Dirty Jobs.
Haven House Property Receives Makeover
The newly formed GreenCare for Communities in the Interstate 40 Corridor between Raleigh and Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina held its first clean-up of a blighted green space with the help of Arysta LifeScience and Board Member Linda Frerichs. The outdoor landscape on the Haven House Services property in Raleigh received a makeover from Project EverGreen volunteers in early June. Volunteers also passed out water bottles, seed packets and literature highlighting the benefits of maintained green spaces for communities at the clean-up event.
Haven House Services is a non-profit agency that helps youths in need and their families to develop positive and successful relationships at home, school and in the community.
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In August, employees of Arysta LifeScience teamed with United Way of the Greater Triangle, Project EverGreen and the City of Raleigh Yard Waste Services, who donated a truckload of mulch, to create an outdoor gathering area for children at Haven House Services to maintain in the future. One of the main missions of Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Communities program is to target and beautify blighted green spaces, and its newest program in North Carolina is off to a great start.
Proclamations Coincide with Newest GreenCare for Communities Initiative
Five mayors passed proclamations this spring declaring May as “Project EverGreen Month.” Three of those proclamations came from mayors of cities located in the newest GreenCare for Communities area in North Carolina’s Interstate 40 Corridor. Mayors Allen Joines, of Winston-Salem, N.C.; William Knight, of Greensboro, N.C.; and Bill Bell, of Durham, N.C. all passed proclamations to coincide with the official start of the GreenCare for Communities initiative in the North Carolina area.
In addition, the mayors of Akron, Ohio and Milwaukee, Wis., the sites of the first two GreenCare for Communities Programs, passed proclamations.
Milwaukee-Based Stores Will Display Organization Signage
As part of a new partnership with GreenCare for Communities in Milwaukee, Wis., Stein Gardens & Gifts placed yard signs with Project EverGreen’s advertising messages at its 16 store locations in and around the state’s most populous city.
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In addition to placing the yard sign advertisements at its store locations, Stein’s website is also running Project EverGreen banner ads online. These banner ads carry many of the same messages as the yard signs themselves. The advertisements include fun phrases like “Be an oxygen-maker” and “Be a cash-collector.”
For more information, visit www.steingardensandgifts.com.
The Christmas Spirit Foundation and Trees for Troops (an organization Project EverGreen has collaborated with over the past few years to promote our GreenCare for Troops Program) is reaching out and asking for our help and vote in their PepsiRefresh Campaign. Throughout the month of September, they are competing for a $250,000 grant that will help them deliver an additional 5,000 Christmas trees to military families. Take a look at Lilly’s Story to see what the gift of a Christmas tree meant to her family.
Project EverGreen has worked with the Christmas Spirit Foundation on the calendar for a few years and through the Christmas CD done in 2009. As a green industry association, the foundation has been a partner of Project EverGreen for several years.
If you can follow the instructions below, please vote for this organization and help them secure this funding. According to Spokesperson Karen Gentles, the foundation is up against 300 other groups for this funding.
“Since 2005, Trees for Troops has reached over 67,000 military families by delivering fresh Christmas trees donated by American farmers. So, winning the $250,000 grant would go a long way toward bringing an additional 5,000 military families Christmas trees this season,” Gentles said. And, it will help them carry out their mission to enhance the Christmas spirit for kids, families and the environment in the years ahead.
According to Gentles, you can vote every day, once per day, by clicking the link below AND texting. Voting ends on September 30th.
Just click on this link: http://www.refresheverything.com/treesfortroops. Simply register with your name, e-mail, birthday and password. This will allow you to quickly login to vote.
You can also vote from your mobile phone. Text* 102662 to Pepsi (73774). *Standard text message rates apply.
Need a Reminder? Sign up to receive a daily text message during the month of September. Text TROOPS to 69302 to receive text updates. Daily text reminders will ONLY be sent during September 2010. Other Trees for Troops updates may be sent periodically after September.
Project EverGreen suggests forwarding this on to others who can help Trees for Troops win this grant. “Your daily voting will make a difference in the lives of military families who sacrifice so much. It’s a simple way to reach out to military families, especially for those who have a loved one deployed,” Gentles said.
For more information and to vote: www.treesfortroops.org.
Move Effective January 2011
The Project EverGreen Board of Directors voted to add current Executive Director Den Gardner to the Board, effective January 1, 2011. The unanimous vote came at the organization’s June semi-annual meeting in Kansas City, Mo.
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Gardner announced on January 20 of this year that he would resign his executive director position at the end of 2010. Green industry communications professional Cindy Code will take over the role resigned by Gardner on January 1, 2011.
The move means that Project EverGreen will keep one of its founders in a key role going forward. Gardner influenced the organization’s creation as it transitioned in 2002 from the former Evergreen Foundation, which at one time had been part of the trade group, Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA).
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The transition from Gardner to Code will undoubtedly be a smooth one as Code is no stranger to Project EverGreen’s operations. She has been an integral part of the organization since its transition from the Evergreen Foundation and has served for two years as Board president. She currently serves on the Board of Directors, and she owns a communications business in the green industry.
Visit www.projectevergreen.com/about-project-evergreen/board-of-directors for more information.
Primary Focus on Awareness Increases
Project EverGreen is offering a full-page advertorial piece for trade industry publications to run when space allows in their publications.
The free advertising focuses on the many successes of Project EverGreen in 2009. A primary focus of the advertorial is the incredible increase in awareness of the benefits of green spaces in communities, thanks to the organization’s education program, GreenCare for Communities. Readers will also learn about GreenCare for Troops’ continued growth. In 2009, the total number of military families who registered for the program increased by 21 percent, and the total number of volunteers increased by 20 percent.
The piece also has bulleted highlights that promote our organization’s many other milestones from the past year.
Click here to download the advertorial (PDF)…
Volunteers Out in Force at Variety of Events
On June 17, 18 and 19, GreenCare for Communities Akron volunteers joined efforts with the Hudson Garden Club again for the Hudson Home and Garden Tour. Volunteers provided sunflower seeds, water bottles, and green space tips and information to those on the tour. The three-day event is the cornerstone of Hudson Days, a community-wide celebration. More than 2,500 people attend the annual tour each year.
In other events, volunteers were also spreading the mission of Project EverGreen outside of Blossom Music Center in Cleveland when Bon Jovi performed on July 12. As you can see from the photo, we had lots of support for our cause at the concert. We’re also having a presence at the summer farmers’ markets too, and we’re talking to consumers about the benefits of maintaining green spaces every Friday. Thanks to Jacquie Mazziotta for all of her great work these past three years in Akron.
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The Akron program is also planning a renovation of the landscape at the Howe House. Local contractors are already on board to lend support, including Edenscape, Impact Lawn & Irrigation, Highpoint Lawn Service, Vizmeg Landscape and others. The Art of Green Spaces competition winners had their artwork on display at the library throughout June. The individual entry winners were Andrew Walsh (in the writing category), Bryce Minor (art) and Leah Jones (art-sculpture). In the team entries, Emma Genter and Bella Tassiello (dance and drama), Remik Niewiarowsky and Ben Nagee (music), and Rachel Iacano and Rachel Pace (writing) all won first place in their respective categories.
New Program to Provide Free Snow Removal for Military Families
Project EverGreen is partnering this winter with The BOSS Snowplow to provide free snow removal to military families across the nation in its recently announced SnowCare for Troops Program.
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The recently announced program seeks to connect snow removal contractors and volunteers willing to provide free snow removal services with military families that have a family member serving in the armed forces. The program is modeled after its wildly successful sister program, GreenCare for Troops, which provides free lawn care services to military families. As you know, many lawn and landscape contractors offer residential and commercial snow removal services during the winter months.
Project EverGreen coordinates the program along with The BOSS Snowplow, which underwrites the program and acts as SnowCare for Troops’ exclusive sponsor.
So far, 77 volunteers have stepped up to help the cause, and 18 families have requested help.
There are a handful of ways for contractors and volunteers to help, including:
Providing free snow removal to a local military family for the winter.
Loaning snow removal equipment to volunteer groups.
Donating money or gas cards to offset the transportation costs associated with snow removal service and subsequent maintenance.
Interested volunteers or eligible military families should visit www.projectevergreen.com/scft, or call 888-611-2956 to sign up and participate in the program.
Pilot Project in North Carolina Sends Equipment on the Go
GreenCare for Troops’ pilot mobile unit in North Carolina has been busy all summer meeting the needs of military families thanks to Steve Hill and his company, Turftenders Landscape Services.
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The mobile trailer keeps all of the essential equipment needed to spruce up a lawn in a single trailer for contractors and volunteers. Turftenders is based in Raleigh, N.C.
The equipment in the trailer, donated by Bayer, was graciously provided by several of GreenCare for Troops’ partners, including Husqvarna, Walker Mowers and Toro.
Tools Are Free for Public Use Online
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A software suite of tools developed by the USDA Forest Service is available to help users assess and manage the structure, function and value of urban tree populations. It is targeted for forestry agencies, municipalities and nonprofit organizations, but anyone interested in learning about their community forest resources will see the benefits of the i-Tree software.
i-Tree promotes a better understanding of the benefits and services provided by community trees and helps justify investment in stewardship, operations and maintenance.
The Forest Service partnered with the National Arbor Day Foundation, The Davey Tree Expert Company and the Society of Municipal Arborists to make i-Tree readily available. i-Tree tools are in the public domain and are freely accessible.
For more information, visit www.itreetools.org.
Headquartered in New Prague, Minn., Project EverGreen is a national non-profit organization representing green industry service (end-user) providers, associations, suppliers/distributors, media companies and other organizations. Project EverGreen’s mission is “To preserve and enhance green space in our communities for today and future generations.”
In late 2004, Project EverGreen launched a national media campaign to inform U.S. consumers about the positive effects of well-maintained green spaces, including lawns and landscapes, sports turf, golf courses and parks. Please go to www.projectevergreen.com for more information.