The Statue of Liberty is famously green, with her oxidized copper patina. But one part of Liberty Island, where the monument sits, was in need of a green up, due to damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
On June 10 more than 30 volunteers coordinated by Project EverGreen, a national non-profit organization that revitalizes green spaces, partook in a service project to restore Liberty Island’s 9/11 Memorial Grove. The renovation was more than a year in the making with more than 20 companies and organizations involved.
The project is valued at more than $35,000 in in-kind product and service donations.
The day included replanting about 12 new London Plane trees, mulching around trees and treating the soil at the 9/11 Grove with gypsum. In March, a volunteer group also removed dead and dying trees damaged by the storm throwing about 5 feet of saltwater onto the grove area. Other advanced work included a tree care survey and soil remediation management plan donated by Paul Cowie & Associates, Lake Hiawatha, N.J.
Landscape contractor Brian Tauscher of Artisan Gardens in Ridgewood, N.J., served as the captain for the June 10 activities, guiding the volunteers in proper tree planting techniques. He brought his wife, Linda; sons Bradley, 13, and Taylor, 9; and a crew of three foremen, who also did site prep work on June 9.
Tauscher, who heard about the project from Paul Cowie, said it was a privilege to help on the historic site and it was an important lessons for his sons to participate in a service project.
Scott Frith, CEO of Holmdel, N.J.-based Lawn Doctor, agreed. Members of his team helped with soil applications on both Liberty and Ellis Islands and will return in the fall to seed the area.
“When you’re part of an industry, it’s part of your responsibility to give back like this,” he said of his company’s involvement in this project and in Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Troops program.
