“Not only did I learn about gardening and conserving our envi- ronment but I had a lot of fun doing it!”
“We unloaded plants in a tumultuous downpour, undaunted in a determi nation to beautify our community.”
“I like to do this because it makes things prettier...”
“The gardens are a real physical and emotional retreat.”
“Our work on the gardens is there for everyone to see and appreciate... and garden fever is contagious.”
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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words... They come by the thousands, about 5,000 to be exact, from all walks of life and ethic backgrounds. They range in age from 8 to 80 years old. And during the month of May, rain or shine — even during pounding rainstorms — somewhere in western Pennsylvania a group of dedicated Western Pennsylvania Conservancy volunteers is planting a community garden. Some of our Community Conservation garden volunteers have been with us for more than 10 years; others are community garden novices. Each of them is helping visually enhance their community and ensuring that a strong volunteer conservation ethic is transferred from generation to generation. This Spring, in more than 170 neighborhoods in 20 counties, volunteers planted and mulched more then 350,000 flowers in Western Pennsylvania Conservancy-sponsored community gardens. In major urban and suburban communities, in small neighborhoods, in business districts and schools as well as along highways, volunteers who believe in the power of community beautification and the value of attractive community greenspace spent hours tucking in tender baby plants that now are spectacular, vibrant welcome mats to their communities. Duquesne Light Greets Squirrel Hill Tunnel Travelers Duquesne Light, a veteran supporter of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, recently expanded its partnership with our Community Conservation program to include the greening of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel entrance to the City of Pittsburgh. Combined with its long-term commitment to the greening of the Fort Pitt Tunnel, Duquesne Light will now be welcoming thousands of motorists to Pittsburgh each day from both the Parkway East and Parkway West. Since 1998, our partnership with Duquesne Light in providing a green welcome mat to motorists entering the City of Pittsburgh from the Fort Pitt Tunnel has made a dramatic change in the perception people have of the vitality of the city. It also paved the way for our greening of the other tunnel entrances to the city. As the corporate partner for both the welcome gardens at the Fort Pitt Tunnel and the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, Duquesne Light is adding yet another dramatic visible and vibrant asset to our community, making Pittsburgh a more attractive place to live and work.
Each year, new groups of volunteers raise their hands to join us in conserving greenspace and making our communities more vibrant. One of the new groups to join us this year were employees from the Home Depot store in Ohio Township, Allegheny County. Sean Mayercheck, one of their employees, was looking for a volunteer project for a group of his co -workers. Sean’s enthusiasm and enterprising spirit quickly led to the formation of a team of people who came out to plant a community garden near their store. In summarizing his experience, Sean’s words were, “It was fun!” He also told us he was recently promoted to a position in Home Depot’s garden department. Congratulations, Sean! We look forward to having the employees from the Home Depot Ohio Township location as ongoing members of our community cultivators.
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