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ORLANDO, Fla. – Involving hundreds of its employees around the country, The Brickman Group announced recently that its Founder’s Day event has earned the company the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET) Community Service Award. This is the first year PLANET has recognized a company’s community service efforts with a formal award. The award was created to recognize significant contributions to the quality of the environment within the community.
“On Founders Day, we remember where we came from,” comments Brickman CEO Scott Brickman. “We’ve been so fortunate to have grown this company from a small residential operation in 1939, to a national leader in the industry. We feel very lucky to be able to give something back – something that really makes a difference in people’s lives.”
Following the values of company founder Theodore Brickman, Founder’s Day was instituted in 1990 to honor Theodore Brickman’s memory and give back to the communities in which Brickman employees live and work.
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Officially, Founder’s Day is held around June 16 each year. During that time, each of Brickman’s 26 regions nationwide determines an activity that will best serve their surrounding communities. Activities normally involve crews of 10 to 20 workers and include planting, pruning, clean-up, tree removal, irrigation and other landscape-related activities. This year, Brickman crews contributed a total of more than $150,000 in materials and labor, as well as immeasurable amounts of caring, to their local communities. Some community service projects included:
In Illinois…
The Ronald McDonald House, Lambs Farm, Women in Need Grow Stronger (WINGS) and The Joshua Conference
In Ohio…
Girls Hope/Boys Hope
| THE GIVING CONTINUES |
Earlier this year, the Brickman Group announced a companywide effort to raise $500,000 for relief efforts in the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast. In addition to creating a monetary fund where Brickman employees could donate money that the company would match two-for-one, company CEO Scott Brickman and his wife Patrice made a special trip to Gulfport, Miss., to deliver a truck filled with donations. Among the recipients of The Brickman Group's donations was a local school in the Gulfport area that suddenly found itself in the position of serving 1,200 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, instead of just their regular 500 elementary schoolers. Brickman Group Communications Manager Margie Holly says school supplies were among the donations that the Brickmans brought down to Gulfport and that they were immedately put to good use. More details from the Brickmans' trip are forthcoming. Visit Lawn & Landscape Online for updates. |
In Missouri…
Our Little Haven Children’s Home
In Connecticut…
Camp Horizons
Brickman Communications Manager Margie Holly notes that many Founder’s Day beneficiary organizations have existing relationships with the Brickman branches in their communities, and that those relationships often extend beyond just the Founder’s Day activities. “Because our regions are decentralized, they’ll determine their own projects and for Founder’s Day, which may be something they’re doing in conjunction with an existing client,” Holly explains. “Some regions make Founder’s Day activities an ongoing event throughout the year, such as helping the beneficiary organization with spring and summer clean-ups, small projects like freshening flower beds, or collecting toys and gifts for children in the community during the holiday season.”
Lamb’s Farm in Libertyville, Ill., is one example of a longstanding relationship between Brickman and the community. The working farm is a center for developmentally disabled adults, offering them opportunities to live, work, play and thrive. Brickman’s relationship with Lambs Farm goes as far back as Scott Brickman’s grandmother, who used to volunteer there, and would often take her grandchildren along to work on the farm.
Debra Holder, Brickman’s director of industry relations, accepted the PLANET Community Service Award on the company’s behalf during PLANET’s awards banquet at the Green Industry Conference in November. Through this award, PLANET recognizes that community service by the members of the green industry helps to project a positive image of the overall industry. Green spaces can have a restorative effect for those who use them. As a leader in the industry, Brickman is proud to be able to contribute to nurturing that effect in the community and to elevating the image of the industry as a whole.