The Gary Sinise Foundation honors the nation’s defenders, veterans, first responders and their families, administering programs designed to inspire, strengthen, and build communities.

A recent Foundation program received support from BrightView, a project that benefited veterans of the U.S. Marines Corps and Air Force. BrightView provided around $7,500 worth of landscaping to a new home for retired Army Sgt. Stefan Leroy, a double amputee. The BrightView crew designed and installed the irrigation system for Sgt. Leroy’s new home in West Palm Beach, Fla. BrightView also installed more than 500 plants and trees and laid 5,000 square feet of sod.

Leroy was wounded in Afghanistan after stepping on an IED while helping carry a wounded comrade to an evacuation helicopter. Leroy has been making headlines since his retirement as a four-time Boston Marathon competitor.

”As a veteran myself, it was really nice to see that people do still care,” said Carlos Sanchez, BrightView Account Manager in Sunrise, Fla. Carlos oversaw the installation, which was fulfilled by 30 industry-wide volunteers.

BrightView recently launched an internal advocacy group called “BrightView Recognizing and Acknowledging Veteran Opportunities,” or BRAVO. This idea was proposed by a group of veteran BrightView leaders and will celebrate military service, assist in the recruitment of veterans for every BrightView line of business, and help establish BrightView as a veteran-friendly organization both internally and in the community.

“BrightView worked with local suppliers to have all landscape materials for the project donated, which enforced a community of support for this important donation,” said Kenneth Catalano, BrightView Branch Manager in Florida South.

Team members from BrightView joined forces with residents of Thousand Oaks, Calif., to honor the 12 victims of the Nov. 7, 2018, mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill. One year after the tragic event, the community came together to create a new healing garden that pays tribute to the victims.

The garden features 12 vertical water jets, 12 natural stone slab benches, 12 natural granite boulders, and one massive oak tree.

BrightView Tree Company donated the 50-year-old oak tree as the centerpiece of the garden. The 30-foot coast live oak tree was delivered to the healing garden in September from BrightView’s nursery in Fillmore, Calif.

“During the selection of the oak tree for the healing garden, our goal was to find a large, healthy specimen that would tie into the existing mature trees on site,” said Andrew Mooney, Conejo Recreation and Park District Senior Park Planner. “The selected tree provides an anchor for the garden, which offers a background element to the space while also providing texture and shade through its foliage.”

The oak, which is 20 feet wide, was set to be destroyed before being rescued by BrightView Tree Company. It was relocated and cared for by BrightView’s experts and nursed back to its former glory.

“Much like the community of Thousand Oaks, the donated tree is healing,” said Robert Crudup, President and chief operating officer of BrightView Tree Company. “BrightView is honored to be a part of this memorial.”

The mission of the garden is to pay tribute to the Thousand Oaks community and honor the strength they showed in the aftermath of the tragic event.

Nationwide, only 40% of teen parents graduate high school. But at Benjamin Franklin High School in Baltimore, the percentage is an astounding 74%. The secret to their success is the community school strategy of the United Way Ben Center in Brooklyn/Curtis Bay, which, in addition to providing a variety of resources for students, their families, and neighborhood residents, supports teen parents pursing a high school diploma. BrightView had the honor of assisting in their noble mission, by helping construct a playground for Ben Center’s tiniest members: the teens’ infants and toddlers.

While teen parents attend high school classes at BFHS, their children can attend the early childhood development program offered at Ben Center. The program is critical to the teen parents’ success, providing safe and convenient care and enrichment for their children while they complete their education. With the addition of the playground, the children now have an enhanced space to take their learning outdoors.

Developing the playground was a true community effort. BrightView partnered with Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) and Plano Coudon to create the play areas. COPT CEO Steve Budorick, former United Way campaign chair, led the charge. BrightView donated services and materials and COPT committed $100,000 in support of the project. Vendor partners SYNLawn and Country Springs Nursery also lent their support, along with BrightView’s Baltimore, Anne Arundel, and Howard branches.

Following demo and soil amendments, the multi-company volunteer force installed plants, fertilizer and mulch, to create the beautiful environment for Ben Center’s children. Completed in mid-August, the playground enhances the childcare program and provides a place for parents in this challenged community to bring their children to play. What was once an abandoned building now serves as a symbol of hope.

Since opening in June 2014, Ben Center has helped more than 60 students and 44 infants. To learn how you can help Ben Center continue to change lives, visit UnitedtoAct.org.

Veterans Memorial Park in Pottstown, Pa., is being revitalized thanks to the work of BrightView and other local businesses. BrightView proudly donated landscape services to the memorial park, including mulching, weeding, and general improvements to the grounds. 

This project honors Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Carl M. Shaffer, a Pottstown native who served in World War II. Staff Sgt. Shaffer’s remains were recently identified and returned for burial in his hometown. The project also will honor Gabriel “Gabe” Joseph Fieni, who was the founder of the Pottstown World War II Memorial. Fieni served as a U.S Army medic in World War II.

“Our BrightView team was grateful for the opportunity to be a part of something as moving as a veterans memorial park,” said Zach Kolb, Norristown Account Manager. “It was very satisfying knowing that BrightView’s donation will have such an important impact on the community.”

The clean-up project is leading up to the fourth-annual Pottstown Veterans’ Community Day Sept. 28. The event will honor local veterans and celebrate their service to the country.

BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BV) (“BrightView”), the nation’s leading commercial landscaping services company, celebrated the second anniversary of its landmark first Employee Resource Group: GROW (Growth in Relationships + Opportunities for Women). GROW’s mission is to attract, promote, and retain women within BrightView.

Led by a group of women committed to the mission – and who volunteer their time to ensure its success – GROW offers networking, professional development, and leadership opportunities for the women of BrightView. To date, more than 300 women have participated in professional development with hundreds more benefiting from online programs.

”Women are clearly an under-represented, yet capable group within the landscape industry and even here at BrightView,” said Andrew Masterman, BrightView President, Chief Executive Officer, and executive sponsor of GROW. “I’ve challenged our team to double the number of women in BrightView over the next three to four years, which will have a positive long-term impact on the company.”

GROW is comprised of five initiatives:

1. Professional Development – Have in-person events across the country and webinars with external coaches and internal speakers who inspire, teach, and help develop women.


2. Networking – Create channels for organic, lasting relationship development, including an online community.


3. Task Forces – Create cross-functional committees of women working together to solve business challenges and enhance existing programs.


4. Community Service – Build a partnership with Dress for Success, a global nonprofit organization that provides professional attire for low-income women, to support women re-entering the workforce following challenging life circumstances.


5. Mentorship – Currently in development, this program will offer more opportunities to develop the talents of BrightView’s female team members.

“Nurturing the talented women of BrightView through GROW is something I take tremendous pride in,” said Amanda Orders, BrightView’s Senior Vice President for Human Resources and GROW Co-Leader. “GROW brings women together across BrightView to support each other, develop future leaders, and create lasting, professional relationships. It started as a small idea and has grown into something rewarding for all involved.”

BrightView’s GROW celebrates two years, Total Landscape Care
BrightView’s GROW program celebrates second anniversary, Landscape Management 

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., recently brightened the day for their patients with a new, airy butterfly garden. More than 200 butterflies spread their wings and flew into their new home, designed and built by BrightView.

The effect was felt throughout the hospital with patients, families, and guests viewing the event in their rooms and in the now brightened courtyard. The hospital’s goal is for the garden to be a place of joy and healing for pediatric patients.

The garden came to fruition thanks to a $2,500 grant from Sokoloff Grant for Compassion & Kindness, which was awarded to 17-year-old Kendra Kaericher. Kaericher was nominated by her peers and teachers at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire to create a project that gives back to the world. While working her summer at inpatient services at Nemours, Kaericher wanted to brighten the day for the patients and families and knew a butterfly garden would do just that. She used the grant to nurture more than 200 caterpillars into butterflies in her living room and also had input into the garden’s design.

The butterfly garden features perennial plants, a butterfly bush, and various other plants that attract monarch butterflies.

The re-opening of Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, part of Independence National Historical Park, can be described in one word: incredible. BrightView, along with fellow champions, suppliers, local media, and eager crowds, were there to witness the symbolic ribbon cutting to re-open the historic lawn to the public on May 17, 2019.

BrightView’s in-kind donation to Independence National Historical Park’s landscape includes the replacement of nearly 100,000 square feet of damaged sod, irrigation repair, tree care, and improvements to the gardens, as well as maintenance of the landscape for the next year.

(For the full transcript, see below.)

While more than 80 percent of U.S. landscaping companies are owned by men, women are rising to the top and determined to make their mark.

Chequita Mccullough started with BrightView as a business developer in the California Bay Area, where she was able to observe the crews and listen to the operations team. Now a Branch Manager, she recognizes that basic management and business principles are similar across most industries.

“Although I’m still learning, with the mentoring and leadership development opportunities my company offers, especially for women, I know the opportunities at BrightView are limitless,” Mccullough says. Chequita says her purpose is to “lead and inspire people to be the absolute best in their lives, relationships and careers.”

To read the full article, visit Forbes.  

The National Park Service and BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BV) (“BrightView”), the nation’s leading commercial landscaping services company, today announced the re-opening of Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, marking the end of the first phase of the company’s in-kind donation to Independence National Historical Park.

Independence Mall has been closed since work began on the project March 25. BrightView crews made significant improvements to the landscape, including the replacement of nearly 100,000 square feet of damaged sod, as well as irrigation repair, tree care and improvements to gardens along the Mall’s perimeter.

“Independence Mall is one of the nation’s most important historical sites and a destination for both Philadelphia residents and visitors to our city,” said Andrew Masterman, BrightView President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our company is headquartered here and it was our honor – in partnership with the National Park Service and our valued suppliers -- to help bring the landscape back to what its designers intended more than a decade ago.”

INHP Superintendent Cynthia MacLeod said, “We are sincerely grateful to BrightView for this valuable in-kind donation. This landscaping project in front of Independence Hall – a World Heritage Site and the birthplace of our nation, will enhance the visits for our millions of visitors to enjoy all of the Park and make their connections with history. Independence Mall looks beautiful, and we are thrilled it will be showcased during all of our special events and other park festivities."

BrightView acknowledges its suppliers who also made significant contributions to the project:

• National Construction Rentals
• Sunbelt Rentals
• Clearview Nursery
• Feeney’s Nursery
• Laurel Valley Soils
• Delaware Valley Paving
• Aquarius Supply
• Rain Bird Corporation
• Center City Film & Video

With Independence Mall now re-opened to visitors, BrightView will begin work on the second phase of its donation to NPS: Maintaining the Independence Mall landscape for the next year, free of charge. Later this year, team members from BrightView operations throughout the eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and northern Delaware will participate in volunteer days at INHP to ensure the landscape continues to look its best.

Photographs and video of the project, including sound bites from Andrew Masterman and Cynthia MacLeod, can be accessed here.

About Independence National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park is one of over 400 places within the National Park Service and is often referred to as the birthplace of our nation. Millions visit the park each year to see the Liberty Bell, an international symbol of freedom, and Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were debated, adopted and signed. Here are stories about the events and the lives of the diverse population during the years when Philadelphia was the capital of the United States from 1790 to 1800. It is the site of the nation's executive mansion in which Presidents George Washington and John Adams lived and where nine enslaved people served the first president. Spanning over 55 acres, the park has over 20 buildings open to the public during the summer months.

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and BrightView Landscapes LLC, the nation’s leading commercial landscaping services company, today announced a plan to make significant improvements to the grounds of one of America’s most treasured and historic sites, Independence National Historical Park (INHP) in Philadelphia.

BrightView, headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., is donating landscape rehabilitation work to INHP, including the complete replacement of sod in the park’s most visited section, Block One of Independence Mall, bounded by the Liberty Bell Center on South Sixth Street and Independence Hall on Chestnut Street. Work is scheduled to begin today and likely will continue until the end of April. The lawn will remain roped off through May to allow the sod to take root.

In addition to turf remediation, BrightView has committed to repair or replace the Block One irrigation system, to make significant improvements to the gardens and hardscape along South Independence Mall East, to improve beds surrounding the Liberty Bell Center, and to provide arbor care for trees along the east and west sides of Block One. BrightView also has committed to maintain the Block One landscape for a full year at no cost to NPS. 

“We are sincerely grateful to BrightView for this much needed in-kind donation. This landscaping project in front of Independence Hall – a World Heritage Site and the birthplace of our nation, will beautify the Park for our millions of visitors to enjoy as they move through the grounds and make their connections with history,” said Park Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. “We truly appreciate Independence Historical Trust for facilitating the relationship between INHP and BrightView.”

BrightView President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Masterman said the company is honored to help. 

“We’d like to thank the National Park Service for the privilege of working on this historic site and for helping to improve the experience for everyone visiting Independence National Historical Park,” he said. “BrightView is a national company, but Philadelphia is our home. INHP is a source of pride for everyone living in this community and for those who travel here from around the world to experience the history of America’s independence.”

INHP is not the first historic landscape developed or cared for by BrightView. The company installed new sod in the National Mall in Washington D.C. in 2011 and developed landscapes in New York’s Governors Island. BrightView also maintains landscapes at Virginia’s historic Colonial Williamsburg and Green-Wood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark in Brooklyn, N.Y.

BrightView and Independence National Historical Park will host a ribbon cutting event for the new Block One landscape work later in the spring.

About Independence National Historical Park

Independence National Historical Park is one of over 400 places within the National Park Service and is often referred to as the birthplace of our nation. Millions visit the park each year to see the Liberty Bell, an international symbol of freedom, and Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were debated, adopted and signed. Here are stories about the events and the lives of the diverse population during the years when Philadelphia was the capital of the United States from 1790 to 1800. It is the site of the nation's executive mansion in which Presidents George Washington and John Adams lived and where nine enslaved people served the first president. Spanning over 55 acres, the park has over 20 buildings open to the public during the summer months.

Part of Independence Mall to be Roped off through May During Lawn Rehab, PhillyVoice
Independence Mall is getting a makeover in time for spring tourism, KYW Newsradio 1060
BrightView partners with National Park Service for park rehabilitation, Lawn & Landscape
BrightView to perform restoration at historic park, Landscape Management
BrightView helps revitalize Independence National Historical Park, Total Landscape Care
Landscaping Firm Improving Terrain at Independence National Historical Park, Globe St.
Plymouth Meeting-Based Brightview Landscapes Donating Landscape Rehabilitation Work to Independence National Historical Park, More Than the Curve
BrightView Landscapes and National Park Service Join Forces to Improve Independence Park, Gloucester City News