Chateaux partners with United Way
The Chateaux Team spent the afternoon on Friday, May 2 beautifying the courtyard of Brookside Elementary School in Norwalk, CT. Working with United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, as well as students and staff from the school, the team cleared out numerous loads of brush, pulled weeds, and planted a variety of species for the students and staff to enjoy.
The initiative started with a massive clean-up of the gardens. Clippers, rakes, shovels were all in use as the team hauled huge loads of brush to the compost pile. Once the brush and other plant matter was cleaned up, it was time to start pulling the exposed weeds to make room for new plants. The kids from Brookside were eager to pierce the ground with their tillers and get to work. Despite the occasional break due to earth-worm discoveries, the gardens were weeded with incredible efficiency and we were ready to move on to the fun part—planting!
Jeff Galdenzi was swarmed with students as he handed out bulbs and explained the proper technique for planting them. After, the students were given a handful of seed mix to throw around the gardens in places they thought needed more plant life. Sadly that was all the time the students had, so they went back inside while Team Chateaux continued. The kids’ hard work and excitement certainly helped our team continue efforts into the late afternoon.
After the kids left, Team Chateaux put the finishing touches on the gardens. Mulch was spread around all the new plants to help kick start growth. After that we did one last sweep to make sure everything looked good.
The Chateaux Team was extremely impressed with the students and staff of Brookside Elementary School. Their excitement during the beautification was a highlight for all of us, and a springboard for partnering on more of these types of activities. The entire Chateaux Team had a wonderful time stepping out of the digital world and interacting with the community.
Check out the United Way’s write-up of this event!
