by Jeff Fisher, V.P. of Commercial Services Reno Lawn & Landscape

Community involvement has always been a cornerstone of Reno Lawn & Landscape’s, Commitments To Success. Commitments to Success are a set of values established to guide each Team Member in making decisions on a day-to-day basis. So last spring when Patti Meals, Executive Director, Care Chest of Northern Nevada, placed a call for assistance, it was an easy decision for Reno Lawn & Landscape to get involved.

This decision was even easier since Reno Lawn & Landscape had supported Care Chest’s mission for several years. The Care Chest Organization is a local nonprofit agency that is committed to serving Northern Nevadans in need by providing medical equipment, supplies, prescriptions and other medically related items free of charge. They had out-grown their existing facility and were in the process of building a new facility North of Reno.

After meeting with Care Chest’s Landscape Committee, it was determined that the initial landscape design had already been completed and planting was to be done by the work crews from the county jail. Therefore, Reno Lawn & Landscape volunteered to assist by providing materials and knowledgeable, trained Team Members for installation of the irrigation system.

In July 2000, Ron Gustafson, Director of Commercial Services recruited a total of seven Reno Lawn & Landscape Team Members to give up their Saturday to install the irrigation system. The volunteer crew consisted of two Customer Care Managers, and two Senior Supervisors. Additionally, three Team Members joined the team to provide assistance.

The Team attacked the trenching first and then laid out the main-line. After the main-line and control wires were installed and all of the trenches back-filled, seven drip valves and the drip lines were installed. Finally, valve boxes and the controller were installed. This first phase was started at 8:00 a.m. and completed at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon, approximately 60 man-hours.

A few days later, as the plant material was being installed, Irrigation Teams returned and installed the final drip lines and emitters to the individual plants. The system was tested, fine tuned and a watering schedule set. The final steps in the process included training the resident manager on the summer-time use of the controller, and a return trip last November to demonstrate winterizing procedures.

Reno Lawn & Landscape’s on-going commitment to community involvement continues by providing services to several local charitable organizations including: Care Chest, Washoe Association of Retarded Citizens, Junior Achievement, Boys & Girls Club, Ronald McDonald House, Silver Crest- a Salvation Army Retirement Home, and The Humane Society. Furthermore, in 2001, Reno Lawn & Landscape is very proud to have instituted their Community Involvement Program. Each senior Team Member, about twenty, are encouraged to take two hours per week plus travel time for forty weeks per year, during the work day, and give back to the community. Team Members can either choose to support an existing Reno Lawn & Landscape project, or volunteer for an involvement project of their own. To date, this involvement has included helping agencies such as the Boys & Girls Clubs, Junior Achievement, school mentors, school coaching assistance and helping out local missions in providing and serving meals on a regular basis.

Since the project has been completed, Care Chest has moved into their new home. Their thriving plants are testimony to Reno Lawn & Landscape’s hard work and dedication to community involvement. LCM