With the holiday season here, BrightView, the industry leader in commercial landscaping and snow removal services, is not only transforming outdoor spaces, but also touching the lives of those in our communities. In a heartwarming display of social responsibility, BrightView is ushering in festive cheer by participating in toy drives, making donations to local organizations, engaging in community service initiatives, and more.

Some of the events include:

• Blue Bell Headquarters collected winter clothing, including coats, hats, gloves, socks, shoes, and more for the local children in partnership with Cradles to Crayons.
• The Montgomery Branch sponsored a family and donated and wrapped gifts for them.
• In Denver, a BOMA Community Affairs Committee Workday was held at The Urban Farm. Forty volunteers, including some BrightView team members, came out to paint the main building and vegetable storage shed, weed the landscaping, and revamped the outdoor tent area with wood and mulch.
• Seasonal Division leadership joined the Boys & Girls Club of Philadelphia to assemble bicycles for children as part of the Jaws Bike Drive.
• The Hunt Valley, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, and Delaware branches prepared meals, organized donations, and decorated the Franciscan Center of Baltimore.
• The Richmond, Chesterville, and Southern Virginia Tree branches joined forces for a volunteer community event at St. Joseph’s Villa to refresh the landscape to restore joy and safety for children with special needs and their families.
• Managers in the South Florida Region received and fulfilled wish lists from roughly 100 children at the Chapman Partnership homeless shelter.
• The Human Resources team helped with the Mid-Ohio Food Collective to prep meal boxes for families and the Columbus West Branch also helped at another location to prep boxes and hand them out to the community.
• The Southwest team visited St. Mary’s Food Bank and sort and distribute donations of food, baby items, and household supplies for the community.
• The Eastern Shore Branch partnered with Haven Ministries food pantry
• The Rocky Mountain team collected donations as part of the Denver BOMA Annual Toy and Gift Drive.
• The Washington DC and Maryland Tree branches joined together to revitalize lawns for individuals suffering with traumatic brain injuries.

BrightView’s holiday initiatives are more than just charitable acts, but are a testament to the company’s commitment to spreading the message of unity and hope. Its team members are using their platform to inspire others to join in the spirit of giving, emphasizing that small acts of kindness can collectively have a significant impact.

With more buildings being constructed in cities, the urban canopy is rapidly decreasing. To help combat this, and reduce what is called the heat-island effect, Texas supermarket chain H-E-B launched Trees for Texans.

As a client of BrightView, H-E-B reached out to the team to help with the year-long program which aims to plant hundreds of native trees at select urban school campuses in the state, along with additional nonprofit grant recipients.

Justin Jordan, BrightView Tree Care Services Branch Manager, and Shane Rasco, Key Account Manager, consulted with H-E-B for the project, and coordinated his branch’s efforts at the Forbes Middle School project in Georgetown, Texas. BrightView’s Austin Branch, led by Bill Davis, was also involved by organizing the delivering the trees to the location.

“My team arranged the unloading of 18 trees, ranging from 20- to 45-gallon containers, and then we helped plan the placements of those trees and pre-dig the holes before the volunteer event,” he said. “We also volunteered to be onsite during the event to help answer any questions and educate the volunteers on proper tree planting techniques."

The native trees planted at the school included Mexican white oaks, cedar elms, Mexican sycamores, evergreen sumacs, and Montezuma cypresses.

The event, celebrated on Texas’ Arbor Day on Nov. 3, had a few dozen volunteers in attendance, including some familiar faces of the school.

“There was a large group of middle school students that came out, and if even one of those students goes home and talks about this with their families, or even goes and plants a tree at home, then this event couldn’t be more of a success,” Jordan said.

As the nation’s largest commercial landscaping company, BrightView has embraced its role as good stewards of the planet and has prioritized its Environmental, Social, and Governance commitment.

BrightView has also been involved with additional environmental projects, such as replanting trees lost to Hurricane Ian in Florida.

Five more planting projects through Trees for Texans are planned from now through December, including a school in Houston and one in Austin.

“It was nice to see the turnout for the actual planting event and see the excitement to plant trees,” Jordan said. “It will be fulfilling to drive by this site in the future knowing that we planted these trees and have helped to make a difference in our communities.”

In February, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department lost a member of its force when six-year veteran Deputy Brian Haney was killed in a traffic collision. In remembrance of him and his service to the city of San Juan Capistrano, a memorial was constructed with BrightView’s help.

Since BrightView already services San Juan Capistrano, Heidi Ivanoff, the city’s Community Services Manager, approached the team about partnering together for the project, which they quickly agreed to.

“Fernando Lopez, our Account Manager for the city, did the landscape rendering for the project,” said Leon Vitort, BrightView’s Greater OC Branch Manager. “We presented the plans and Heidi and the staff loved and approved them for us to move forward with.”

As part of the donation to the project, BrightView did the demolition to the existing space. They then installed an upgrade to the irrigation system and the plant materials.

The project was completed in August and a memorial dedication was held in late September.

“Heidi and the city were very pleased with the outcome of the project,” Vitort said. “We are so honored and proud to have been a part of it and the team feels great to have been able to honor a fallen office in this way.”

BrightView is pleased to recognize Refuge for Women, a nonprofit organization providing specialized long-term and emergency housing for women who have escaped human trafficking or sexual exploitation, as the recipient of a $2,500 grant from the BrightView Fund for Social Justice.

The Fund was established to support organizations and initiatives that promote equality and inclusion in the local communities where BrightView team members live, work, and play.

Tricia Justice, BrightView Vice President of Human Resources, presented the grant to Refuge for Women at a luncheon in Las Vegas.

“We, at Refuge for Women, are so incredibly grateful for the gift. Gifts such as this one allow us to continue serving women who have been sexually exploited and sex trafficked,” said Rosie Harris, Executive Director, Refuge for Women. “It is because of organizations like BrightView Landscapes that we are able to help women experience freedom, rest, restoration, and a restart. We appreciate you, greatly.”

Grabbing shovels, wheelbarrows, and rakes is part of our daily routine of creating and maintaining the best landscapes on Earth. 

But on Earth Day, it’s even more special for our teams as we extend a hand – or in our case, shovel – to communities where we work, live, and play in an effort to keep our Earth healthy and green.

This past Earth Day, BrightView team members across the country volunteered their time and participated in enhancement projects and local events to make a positive impact in their communities. They accomplished everything from rejuvenating community centers’ gardens and flower beds to planting trees and distributing educational materials and flower seeds at client locations.

Click here to view a slideshow of BrightView’s work in the community on Earth Day.

These efforts are in addition to our commitment to ecosystem preservation, which saw us partner with the Arbor Day Foundation in 2022 to plant 300,000 trees. These plantings help revitalize the ecosystem, while cleaning the air, filtering water, and sequestering carbon. 

Learn more about BrightView’s Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) goals and strategy in its 2023 ESG Report. 

Simon Youth Foundation (SYF), an Indianapolis-based nonprofit dedicated to improving the national academic dropout rate and increasing college accessibility by partnering with established public school systems, is the latest recipient of a grant from the BrightView Fund for Social Justice.

The mission of SYF is to foster and improve educational opportunities, career development, and life skills that transform the lives of at-risk youth through focused programs and initiatives with our public school and post-secondary education partners.

The $2,500 donation was presented to Andrea Neely, President and CEO of SYF. Bill Schell, BrightView’s Fishers, Ind., Branch Manager, was joined by several team members, including Account Manager Zach Binder, who nominated SYF for the grant.

“Thank you for supporting the SYF mission! We appreciate BrightView’s commitment to helping students have a brighter future,” said Neely.

“Simon Youth Foundation is doing great work for the youth of Indiana and all over the country,” said Schell. “It’s reassuring to know our support will benefit the SYF’s programming and have a positive impact on these students.”

BrightView actively engages the field in social giving and established the BrightView Fund for Social Justice to support organizations and initiatives that promote equality and inclusion in our local communities.

A Pacific Northwest community garden seeking to provide food sustainability for residents experiencing financial hardship is the newest recipient of a grant from the BrightView Fund for Social Justice.

Seattle Beacon Hill Garden Club, an affiliated program of Beacon Arts, runs a series of programs designed to cultivate friendship and community through gardening. The Garden Club’s signature Seed Library and Garden Share projects were both started in 2020 during the pandemic as ways to assist local families in need.

Betty Jean Williamson, Beacon Arts Board President & Beacon Hill Garden Club Member accepted the donation on behalf of the Garden Club.

“Thank you to BrightView for the generous support of our work,” said Williamson. “We are a neighborhood of 40,600 BIPOC – Black, Indigenous, and People of Color – residents, with 40 percent immigrants and refugees. This new source of support will allow Beacon Hill Garden Club to purchase more seeds and supplies for our neighbors and will help us in expanding the selection to serve our extremely diverse community.”

Presenting the donation for BrightView were Renton (Wa.) Branch Manager Charley Rash, Account Managers Christine Wetmore and Wayne Bernritter, and Project Manager Uriel Calderon. Wetmore is an active member of the Garden Club.

“I am honored to be a part of the BrightView Fund for Social Justice donating to this organization that promotes locally grown and sustainably sourced food that is donated to our local community. It’s also thrilling that Christine has championed this contribution,” said Rash.

BrightView actively engages the field in social giving and established the BrightView Fund for Social Justice to support organizations and initiatives that promote equality and inclusion in our local communities.

Recently, our BrightView team spent a day at the historic location of Ellis Island in New York Harbor, reclaiming the landscaping surrounding Ellis Island Hospital. Team members donated their time and services to the nonprofit Save Ellis Island, Inc., to help clean up the grounds, clear out overgrowth, and mow the overgrown lawns on the site’s less visited south side.

Called Ellis Island’s forgotten hospital, the 22-building complex was one of the largest public health undertakings in the country and is where immigrants were treated if they were sick or needed to be quarantined upon arriving to the U.S.

“We were honored to lend our expertise to help revitalize Ellis Island’s south side,” said James Horne, BrightView’s Hillside (N.J.) Branch Manager. “BrightView has a long history of working to beautify and preserve iconic landmarks and historical sites, so naturally, we were eager to provide our landscaping maintenance assistance when approached by Save Ellis Island. Ellis Island is a national treasure, and we look forward to continuing to support Save Ellis Island’s mission.”

Save Ellis Island, Inc., is the National Park Service private sector nonprofit that has a mission of raising funds to restore 29 of the abandoned buildings on the island, including the hospital complex.

Read more about BrightView’s volunteer day here.

A Military Wall of Honor was recently rededicated in Riverside, Calif., in time for Memorial Day following a monthslong makeover. BrightView was commissioned to refurbish the landscaping in front of the monument.

The wall, which featured the 750 names of Riverside residents who lost their lives while on active duty between 1914 and 1997, was originally unveiled 25 years ago, but as the landscape around it has progressed with modern times, the wall has not. Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson and the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce raised funds to give this solemn landmark the upgrade it deserved.

“We’ve been servicing this property for more than 10 years and when the opportunity was presented by the Chambers of Commerce, we were highly recommended to take the project on board,” said Santiago Torres, BrightView Account Manager. “We were responsible for supplying the materials for the pavers and also planted more than 600 different plants.”

All of the design elements for the refurbishment had a special meaning behind it, including the roses installed by BrightView. The red ones represent the blood shed by the local heroes in defense of freedom and the white ones represent the memory of those who were lost.

The $200,000 renovation, which also included roughly three dozen new names from service members lost in action since 1997, was unveiled and rededicated on May 24, in time for the annual Memorial Day Remembrance.

“It was such a great feeling to be a part of this incredible project,” Torres said. “I’ve lived in Riverside my whole life and I have family members who have served as well. This project had special meaning to our crews as well. We could all feel what this monument means to the city and to all those who have served or lost loved ones.”

Set against the beautiful backdrop of Cowles Mountain is the San Carlos Community Garden. It has become a space for residents of San Carlos, in the eastern suburbs of San Diego, and surrounding areas to come and grow their own organic, healthy foods and flowers.

The garden was established in 2012 from a grant funded by the San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, and now with its 10th anniversary in 2022, the garden is undergoing a little makeover.

As part of its anniversary project, BrightView has donated landscaping and irrigation for the garden.

BrightView became involved when Kelly Wood, co-founder and Vice-Chair of the garden, reached out to BrightView’s senior human resources business partner Darlene McConville. Kelly and Darlene were working together through an education partnership BrightView has with University of Arizona Global Campus.

“Kelly reached out regarding the Garden’s 10-year anniversary and a potential partnership with BrightView,” McConville said. “It was an opportunity we felt would be great for us to be a part of.”

The beautification project took three weeks of design, planning, and installation and was revealed on March 26 during the Garden’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, an event which attracted hundreds of community members and was honored by the County of San Diego’s Supervisor Joel Anderson and City of San Diego Councilmember Raul Campillo, commemorating the day as San Carlos Community Garden Day. BrightView donated plant material, boulders, irrigation installation, and plant installation.

Eitan Altman, a nearby resident and active member of the California Native Plant Society, the San Diego Audubon, and the Garden recently shared his sentiments about BrightView’s impact.

“The Garden is an important resource for our community in creating awareness about sustainable and environmentally-friendly landscaping practices,” he said. “The installation of the San Carlos Community Garden sign and professional landscaping by BrightView has given the Garden a sense of permanence and inclusion, creating an atmosphere which invites people into the Garden who may not have even been aware of its existence previously. I, myself, am a perfect example.”

The garden offers 63 raised plots for the community, 12 raised beds for Sierra School of San Diego students, a 30-fruit-tree orchard, an herb garden, and a 160-foot dry creek bed that is planted with California native species. There is also a labyrinth, an outdoor classroom amphitheater, and the site is designated a Monarch Way Station and a Food2Soil composting site.

Also hosting workshops, classes, and events, the gardens can truly be considered a place for the community to gather and get their hands dirty digging in the soil. BrightView is proud to be able to contribute to this project and give back to the communities its team members live in.

“To be able to help a community that is focused on improving the environment and creating a space for them to gather is remarkable,” said David Howell, BrightView Vice President & General Manager. “This not only supports the community, but also the local school where kids learn to grow vegetables and fruit. It is really a great feeling to see the passion behind the project and to be a part of it.”