Now in its second year, our Team Volunteering and Corporate Membership Program is blooming! This program is vital to many of Governors Island’s horticultural and environmental initiatives as it engages volunteers in the hard work of keeping pace with our demanding new and historic landscapes. Last year, the program’s inaugural season, 20 corporate and 10 non-profit and community groups brought a total of 1,200 volunteers who donated 5,860 hours of horticultural stewardship.
This program would not be possible without critical funding and continued support from American Express and Bloomberg L.P. This support has allowed us to plan strategically, build a horticultural tools arsenal, replenish our deferred plant-stock, fine-tune project design and build in necessary supervision and training for volunteers.
American Express
Last year, over 130 American Express employees volunteered in five team projects, breathing new life into the bucolic landscapes of the historic Nolan Park, as well as ensuring the health of the new forest on the South Island. This year, our terrific partnership continues. An American Express team was the first ever volunteer group to work in the newest part of the park—The Hills, and the iconic Picnic Point. Working alongside incredible views of the Harbor, the Manhattan skyline, and the Statue of Liberty, the team installed temporary fencing that will protect newly seeded lawns when the Hills open to the public on July 19.
With five more American Express groups scheduled for big projects in the coming weeks, we are looking forward to meeting our stewardship goals for the meadows of Hammock Grove and the hedge mazes of Liggett Terrace!
Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg L.P. brought 148 volunteers to the Island in 2015. Their dynamic teams worked in our new park making sure our woodlands are thriving, the weeds are not encroaching, and the soil is well aerated. This year, Bloomberg is helping us spearhead “The Green Zone,” a unique back-of-house complex needed to keep the Island’s landscapes healthy and sustainable. Volunteers will participate in establishing grow houses, a nursery, compost operations, soil blending test beds, and liquid biological amendment and compost tea operations—our efforts to achieve a closed loop organic waste cycle where all horticultural and food wastes generated on the Island are processed and returned to the landscape.
These two trailblazing companies are followed by other corporate volunteer partners that are not only integral to Governors Island sustainability but also create a sense of civic engagement and ownership for our green spaces and allow us provide supplies and supervision for non-profit and community groups to enjoy team building service projects on the Island.
Thank you to all of our corporate and non-profit partners for lending your hands, your enthusiasm, and your care! We are looking forward to seeing you soon.
For more information on team volunteering and corporate membership, please visit govisland.com/corporate or email masha@friendsgi.org.