BrightView has partnered with CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate and investment firm, to renew the landscape at an underserved YMCA in Texas. The Park South Family YMCA is a central hub for the community, but has had an unattractive landscape and vegetable garden that was never completed.  

BrightView employees led teams of volunteers from CBRE to install flower pots, enhance the landscape, and bring in topsoil for the vegetable garden. Members of the YMCA will now be able to grow produce for their community and also use the garden as an educational tool.

BrightView donated all of the plant material for the project and also installed 12 new trees on the campus.

“Trees play a vital role in our everyday lives by improving air and water quality, as well as providing shade for cooling and beautifying our communities,” said Lisa Colicchio, Vice President of Sustainability at CBRE. “We are proud to partner with BrightView for this event during Green Week to benefit the children and community at Park South Family YMCA today and for future generations.”

Now that the project is completed, volunteers from the YMCA will be coached by BrightView on watering and maintenance so that the new garden and landscape will thrive.

“This project is a way to help our community increase its environmental IQ while leaving a lasting, beautiful aesthetic, which is so important in blighted communities,” said Rodrigua Ross, District Executive Director at Park South Family YMCA. “Additionally, this generous project allows us to help our kids see the parallels between their growth and the growth of these gorgeous trees and plants, creating a visual reminder of their own strength and resilience.”

Hunt Heroes Foundation (HHF), Hunt Military Communities Mgmt., LLC ("HMC"), a nonprofit organization, and BrightView Landscapes, the nation's leading commercial landscape company, recently partnered up to give 50 lucky military children new bicycles and helmets just in time for the holiday season. All 50 of the bicycles were generously donated to the HHF from BrightView, a partner of HMC on many of its properties.

"BrightView was truly honored to donate these bicycles to the Hunt Heroes Foundation," said John Chapman, BrightView Regional Key Account Manager. "These bicycles were purchased by BrightView and assembled as part of a team building exercise for our employees. We knew we wanted them to be put to good use so donating them to military children, through the HHF, made a lot of sense."

The bicycles were given away as part of a contest where military children, under the age of 16, had to write an essay on what it meant to be the child of a service member. Nearly 200 entries were received from almost every Hunt property nationwide. 

"The judges had an extremely hard time narrowing it down to 50 winners," said John Ehle, Hunt Heroes Foundation President. "There were so many good, heart-tugging essays that we really wish each person who entered could win. We are so grateful to BrightView for their generosity and for helping make so many children's holidays a little brighter this year."

Portions of some of the winning essays are below:

"I am thankful for being a military child because I love my dad and he is in the military. I love him but sometimes he has to leave to help or save people around the world." -Zyla V. Floyd, 8 years old.

"My dad is in the military. He goes to far away work for a long time. It means we don't always get to spend holidays together. It means I have to be brave for mom when he is not home. It means when other kids have their dad for the holidays mine may have to work. But when my dad is home it's super special." -Allen Corban, 8 years old.

"For me, being a military child is sometimes not so easy. It takes a lot of work to be in the military so there's a lot of times when my dad is gone. But, I know that he is doing good work, and that he is always there to take care of me, even when he's not right there next to me." -David Potter, 15 years old.

About Hunt Heroes Foundation

Formed in 2018, the Hunt Heroes Foundation proudly serves military families, partners and communities through opportunities and ideas generated by our people and partnerships. Together, the HHF will discover new ways to ensure we help bring a positive change to the communities in which we live and work. http://huntheroesfoundation.org/

About Hunt Military Communities

As the most experienced and largest owner of military housing in the nation, Hunt Military Communities offers unsurpassed quality and service to more than 200,000 residents in over 52,000 homes on Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Army installations throughout the country. With a 50-year legacy and a partnership with the Department of Defense, Hunt strives to build communities characterized by three clear promises: 5-star service, connectedness, and a culture of trust. For more information, visit www.huntmilitarycommunities.com.

BrightView’s Growth in Relationships and Opportunities for Women (GROW) was created with a mission of attracting, retaining, and promoting women within the company. As one of its first tasks, GROW surveyed the approximately 1,300 women at BrightView and learned that they overwhelmingly liked working for the company, feel their opinions matter and are heard and respected by supervisors and male peers, and they love what they do and feel they work with great people in a great company.

“Women in business typically wear a lot of hats and are crucial to our success – so how do we ensure there is a viable path for every woman in our organization?” said BrightView’s Kate Douglas Kestyn.

Kestyn, who is one of the founders of GROW, said she is encouraged seeing how local branches are trying to recruit more women.  She also is gratified to see many of these women being promoted through the ranks.

 To read the full article, visit the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado.

In mid-September, warnings for Hurricane Florence were issued in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. As a Category 4 storm, record rainfalls and a massive storm surge were anticipated as Florence headed for coastal towns and beaches. Due to the severity of the storm, state officials issued evacuation protocols, causing more than 1 million people to flee their homes for safety. When our models predicted that Hurricane Florence would likely have an impact, Branch Managers began their preparations in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, which included enacting BrightView’s Preliminary Response Plan:

• Communication with all customers in the anticipated affected areas. Branches offer up manpower, heavy equipment, and chainsaws immediately to clients and properties in need.


• Service all equipment in preparation for travel.


• Preemptively work with rental companies to retain extra heavy equipment in times of distress.


• Managers resourced emergency response teams who committed to open-ended stays in areas where Hurricane Florence was anticipated.


• Five days before the storm was projected to hit the tree crews, chip and grapple trucks were serviced and lined up to respond, if directed.


• BrightView provides daily updates to those who pre-approved a storm response to communicate the state of their property and work we complete on site.

For the second consecutive year, BrightView’s Mid-Atlantic teams played host to a soccer tournament in Leesburg, Va. Participants included teams from 12 branches and more than 500 attendees. The region decided to take what many teams were already doing and build on it by creating an event for the entire Mid-Atlantic and team members’ families. In addition to soccer, the event included an ice cream truck, cotton candy machine, food from a local restaurant, and a dunk tank. Each attendee received a shirt, hat, koozie, cooling towel, and sunglass holders, while children received bubble wands and BrightView beach balls.

Before the recent tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, students were working to create an outdoor learning space, but the ground was not well-graded and students weren’t able to maintain the area.

The tragic events of Feb. 14 shocked the entire Parkland community, including BrightView Business Developer Michael Lashbrook, who grew up in the area.

“It hit close to home – one of my good family friends was there,” he said. "After it happened, we all felt terrible. I was just trying to think of ways that I could help. Knowing that BrightView has the capabilities, I reached out to my friend to find out what we could do.”

Within a week, BrightView connected with the school and after several conversations the decision was made to focus on the outdoor learning space.

“It was a place where we could make a more immediate impact,” Lashbrook said.

The area wasn’t quite finished, but already contained several hand-crafted elements created by the students, including raised planter beds, a hydroponic garden, a telescope observatory, and solar-powered electric panels.

“Initially, we came with the idea of creating a physical memorial garden for them, but the more we became involved with the students, we all came to the conclusion that what was most important was for them to just have a community gathering space,” said Bryan Walters, BrightView Account Manager. “This was a way to bring the students and faculty together to finish a project they had already been working on and to create a space they can use to reflect and move forward.”

It also became apparent that the school wanted to keep the structures that were already in place and the foundation of what they had created.

BrightView agreed to re-grade the entire garden and existing walkways, add additional paver walkways, create and install a Florida-native educational garden and butterfly garden, and design a reflective tranquility garden as a healing space for students and teachers.

The project kicked off April 14. BrightView team members were joined by more than 20 faculty and students to take part in the installation. Everything used that day was donated by BrightView’s suppliers.

A key piece of the area was the reflective and tranquility garden. The garden has colorful plant material and a water feature in the center. Lining the pathway are 17 glazed, solid granite stones to symbolize the 17 students and faculty who lost their lives on that tragic day.

“The weight and mass of the stones were selected to represent the solidarity of unwavering placement of their lives in the community,” Walters said. “After everything was said and done, this became more than just a student project, but a day of healing, laughter, and fun for everyone. This entire project was our way to help the community and be there for our neighbors.”

On May 16, a dedication ceremony was held at the school as a way to thank everyone who was involved with the project.

“Every single day, I have students come up to me and express their appreciation of the garden area,” said Brandon Kyle Jeter, science teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. “Nothing makes me feel more fulfilled than seeing entire classes utilizing the space. I firmly believe that use of the reflection area is going to become incredibly important moving forward.”

Industry roundup: BrightView aids in creating community gathering space, Total Landscape Care

It has been more than five years since 20 children and six educators were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The tragedy shocked the nation and memories of the victims continue to inspire memorials in the local community. 

At nearby Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), students, faculty, staff, and members of the community have worked to create a Remembrance Garden, featuring a SCSU Alumnae Sandy Hook Memorial to honor the memory of the four alumni educators who were lost that day and to pay tribute to social justice, a key area of focus for SCSU. 

While she was a student at the university, Carlene Barnes, a 2013 graduate, created a conceptual design for the memorial that was selected in a juried competition. The unique design combines art and physical spaces, bringing visitors together and featuring delta-shaped stones symbolizing change and underscoring the belief that supporting others begins with small steps. 

Barnes and the SCSU staff teamed with Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio in Vermont to complete the design. The garden features a sculpture lined with four fiber-optic lighting strands representing the four alumnae lost during the Sandy Hook massacre and the light they brought into the world. 

“The garden creates a setting of peace and tranquility with a beautiful wooden sculpture that reminds us of our alumnae’s courage and sacrifice,” said Joe Bertolino, SCSU President. “This space will serve as a place of inspiration and motivation to break the cycle of violence and build a better society for generations to come.” 

BrightView partnered with the university to bring the design to life and install the Remembrance Garden, a part of a larger SCSU Reflection Garden that is a first-of-its-kind physical expression of the university’s five core values: dignity, respect, kindness, compassion, and civility.  

“There were many hands involved to make this project a reality and we were honored to be a part of it,” said Justin Wolf, Branch Manager at BrightView. “We began with planning conversations and then moved to prepping the site, helping to manage the project and completing hardscape for what is now the garden’s Area of Compassion.” 

Wolf and his team joined with several community partners to provide donated materials and philanthropic support over an eight-month process that included open dialogues with students, faculty and staff. 

“We could not have had a better or more dedicated partner than BrightView, who performed the work with such care,” said Dr. William Faraclas, faculty member in the Department of Public Health and co-lead of the Reflection Garden Council. “It was clear they understood the significance of the garden and embraced the spirit of this project.” 

Carpentry students from nearby Eli Whitney Technical High School built a curved bench to face the wooden sculpture. The sculpture itself was designed by artists Rich Duca and Meredith Bergmann and constructed at Brooklin Boat Yard in Maine. 

Many SCSU faculty are brainstorming ways to incorporate the garden into their curriculum. The garden will serve not only as a space for personal reflection and remembrance but for scholarly and creative activities as well. 

“The Remembrance Garden, created with the indispensable help of Justin Wolf, Nick Vincenzo and the rest of the BrightView team, is going to be a center of activity on our campus,” Faraclas said. 

Industry roundup: BrightView aids in Sandy Hook memorial installation, Total Landscape Care
BrightView installs garden to honor Sandy Hook victims, Lawn & Landscape

Children in Anaheim have a new playground to enjoy in Pearson Park, thanks to the work of local volunteers, including BrightView.

Through the work of the Anaheim Family YMCA, the City of Anaheim, Disney, and KaBOOM!, roughly 300 volunteers came out on Feb. 24 to install a new playscape and landscape.

“We service more than 37 parks for the City of Anaheim and we have a good relationship with the City Supervisor for the parks,” said Gerardo Herrera, BrightView Account Manager. “Last year, the city asked us to help out at a different park and so they reached out to us again this year.”

A 10-person team of BrightView volunteers took part in the community event, helping with some planting projects and teaching those in attendance how to install plants and trees.

“We were the experts in landscaping, so we were asked to break-off into groups and go to different sections of the park for planting, applying mulch, raking sand courts, and more,” Herrera said.

The all-day project saw roughly 300 volunteers come out to renovate the park.

KaBOOM! donated the new playscape while the volunteers, made up of teenagers, community members, and city officials, installed the pieces, along with the landscaping.

“For me personally, I always like to volunteer my time whenever I can for projects like these, especially if it’s in the community where I work,” Herrera said. “As BrightView, we want to give back to the community whenever there is a chance and the City Supervisor knows he can count on us. It feels good to help out.”

The damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, estimated at more than $125 billion, is the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history. The storm brought with it record flooding, devastating Hilliard Elementary School in East Houston.

The floodwater pooled in hallways and classrooms, ruining furniture and supplies, leaving the district no choice but a major overhaul of the building. All 600 students were transferred to a nearby school.

Recently, an event, sponsored by Recovery Houston, BrightView, OJB Landscape Architecture, and Numotion, brought 640 volunteers from across the country together to restore the campus grounds of Hilliard Elementary.

Scott Blons, Technical Director at OJB, and his team assisted with plant selections and BrightView Landscape Development’s Dallas and Houston teams donated 3,000 shrubs, 300 trees, mulch and gravel to the project. The BrightView teams also coached 30 volunteer teams to install the new landscape which includes an outdoor classroom, community garden, picnic area, and a play space.

“The grounds were dated and needed upgrades even before the hurricane,” said Garrett Brock, Project Manager with BrightView Landscape Development. “The new landscape provides a warm welcome to students and visitors and will help kids get involved in outdoor activities.”

Staff at Hilliard Elementary said they are delighted with their beautiful new campus and it has served as an inspiration for the community. The school’s interior was also renovated and the refurbished campus will be ready for students to return for the 2018-19 school year.

“We were thankful for the opportunity to assist with the supplies and materials, and help beautify the campus, but the real hero is Recovery Houston for managing hundreds of volunteers, most whom were non-Houstonians,” Brock said. “They are doing amazing work to rebuild this community and it was special to be a part of it.”

This project is the latest effort in BrightView’s response to the three major Atlantic hurricanes. Immediately following Harvey, one of BrightView’s Houston teams found their office flooded and worked out of their trucks to clean-up debris and respond to client sites. Other team members left their homes and conducted a rescue mission in flooded neighborhoods. The company’s Florida teams were out assessing the damage while Hurricane Irma was still active in the state. BrightView also matched employee donations from across the country to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

Industry roundup: New campus plans created for CHOA, Total Landscape Care

Team members from BrightView’s Landscape Development, Landscape Services, and Tree Company service lines teamed up to build a child safe recreational area at Ruby’s Place, a nonprofit organization in the Northern California city of Hayward that provides shelter and support services for families and individuals directly affected by domestic violence and human trafficking.

Ruby’s Place’s Children’s Program provides therapeutic services for children by assisting them in their development and relationships by engaging in play therapy in a positive environment.

Despite their importance, the shelter’s three children’s playgrounds were neglected and unsafe areas and went completely unused. This area is the only space available within the protected facility for more than a dozen children to play in.

BrightView teams removed the existing structures from the three playground areas and transformed the space by supplying and installing new underground drainage, concrete walkways, security fencing and gates, wood planter boxes, a synthetic turf kick-about soccer field, an outdoor area for families with an overhead shade trellis along with a low-water usage irrigation system and drought tolerant trees, shrubs, and groundcovers.

“It has been so rewarding to see all of our BrightView team members from different service lines come together to give back to our community for such a worthwhile cause,” said Skip Stevens, Vice President and General Manager at BrightView Landscape Development. “It’s very rewarding to be able to provide a play space that is safe, fun, and a positive environment for the children and families at Ruby’s Place.”

BrightView team members worked with Ruby’s Place and HomeAid in Northern California and partnered with contractors, vendors, suppliers, and donors to make this community outreach event a success for all involved.

Later this spring, BrightView team members, HomeAid, contractors, and donation partners will return to the family shelter and join the Ruby’s Place staff and families for an “all hands in” volunteer event to fix-up other areas of the shelter by painting buildings, cleaning windows, and more.

Project roundup: OTL chosen to work on Butterfly Pavlion, Total Landscape Care
Companies in the News: BrightView rebuilds recreational area for nonprofit; Brandt completes construction of new lab; Lawn Doctor of Grand Rapids under new management, Landscape Management