When you’re in the military or the reserves, deployment to a far-flung corner of the world can happen at any time. And when it does, there are many things to take care of: Making sure family members are safe and provided for, ensuring financial obligations are met during your absence, and, yes, even otherwise routine household duties, like taking care of your landscaping.That’s the situation Capt. Anthony Scerri found himself in a few months ago, as he prepared for his Army reserve unit’s deployment. He contacted Project Evergreen and its nationwide outreach program, GreenCare for Troops, which connects local green industry professionals with our servicemen and servicewomen to help care for their homes during times when they must serve elsewhere.
“He was looking for ways to get someone to maintain his landscaping because he normally does it all himself, and he was being deployed for 400 days or so,” says Stay Green Account Manager Gary Gonzalez. “He didn’t want his wife to have to worry about it.”
Stay Green was only too glad to help out, as Capt. Scerri prepared for deployment. Our team is keeping an eye on his landscaping and mowing his lawn while he serves our nation.
“We’ve been on the property for several months now,” Gonzalez says. “It’s a donation, it’s something we do for our troops and we’re definitely glad to do it.”
Gonzalez says the captain’s family has been very appreciative of the help, and it has given the whole family one less thing to worry about during the deployment.
“It’s very stressful for somebody to leave their family like that,” Gonzalez says. “Just to know that it’s being taken care of is a nice thing to hear. There was a broken pipe one day and my guys went out there right away and took care of it. Things like that, they don’t have to worry about.”
The Stay Green team actually started work shortly before Capt. Scerri left on his deployment, and we were honored to received a note of appreciation from him, in which he said his landscape was looking great:
“This week has been hectic for me and stressful with all the pre-mobilization requirements and training,” Capt. Scerri wrote. “But your involvement has helped me tremendously and this will be one less thing for my family to worry about in my absence. I can’t thank you enough for your generosity.”
No, Capt. Scerri. We can’t thank YOU enough.