Make it Your Business: Corporate Giving and the Wissahickon
Imagine starting your office work day under the tree canopy in the Wissahickon. Employees with New Rez, LLC did just that last fall. A group from the national mortgage lending and servicing organization spent a beautiful fall morning with the FOW field staff planting nearly 40 native trees in Houston Meadow. This project was one in a series of three and a great example of volunteer groups passing the baton of stewardship to each other. Students from Episcopal Academy, a local private, co-educational school, and Vertex, a global provider of tax technology solutions, helped FOW prepare the Houston site in the days leading up to New Rez’s corporate stewardship day, by moving plants and supplies to the site, integral steps to completing a habitat restoration project in the park.
Corporate citizenship makes an enormous impact on the park and on the employees who participate in corporate service days. These and other local businesses are giving FOW critical support needed to conserve and improve Wissahickon Valley Park and helping to reduce the impact of more than 2 million visits each year.
Corporate group outings are a fun, morale-boosting way to get employees away from the office and into nature. They instill a feeling of satisfaction and pride in doing something that cares for a place they and their families know and love. We love seeing volunteers in their company-branded gear, so excited to see the results of their hard work!
Corporate stewardship is not only good for employees, but also for your business and its ability to hire and retain employees. Forbes cites The Cone Communications Millennial Employee Study from 2020, finding that 64% of Millennials won’t take a job if their employee doesn’t have a strong corporate social responsibility policy, and 83% would be more loyal to a company that helps them contribute to social and environmental issues (that’s us!)
Stewardship work isn’t the only opportunity in the Wissahickon either. Companies can even schedule a hike led by one of our Wissahickon experts tailored to their employees’ specific interests – history, birds, and much more, at any time of year (even winter in the woods is beautiful).
Contributions, big or small, are what drives our success as stewards of this amazing urban green space. We are grateful for the support of our many community corporate partners. On behalf of everyone at FOW, thank you!
Schedule a corporate stewardship event or a special outing for your team today here!
Photo: New Rez, LLC after a planting day in Houston Meadow. Photo by FOW staff.