Companies Help Chicago Youth See the Greener Side

CHICAGO – It’s been said a little help goes a long way, and area companies in Chicago exemplified this by offering their services to the Chicago Youth Program.

While Magellan Development Group, Loewenberg and Associates and McHugh Construction donated labor and supplies to erect the new Zaleski Center on the city’s south side, the family-owned landscape design business Countryside Industries was corralled for its services.

“This project was very important to our customers, Magellan and McHugh, so it was important to us,” says Lee Keenan, vice president of purchasing and production at Countryside Industries. “But, more importantly, it is a much needed center for the youth of the city.”

Suppliers to Countryside Industries donated a total of more than 3,000 shrubs, 3,200 perennials and groundcovers, 30 trees and 3,000 square yards of sod for the landscaping project. Countryside Industries provided the majority of the manpower to complete the project.

“CYP is doing wonderful things for youth who otherwise wouldn’t have anywhere to turn,” Keenan says. “And we are happy to have been part of that.”

The center, which provides heath, education, recreation and career assistance to area youth, opened April 22.