Jun 23rd, 2012

Genworth Takes the Lead

Photos & text by Albert Brian Vick,  Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Community Kitchen Garden Coordinator

More than 30 Genworth associates came to work in the Lewis Ginter Community Kitchen Garden on June 13. That huge number of volunteers puts Genworth in first place so far this season in terms of the number of corporate associates who have visited on one occasion to contribute volunteer labor to the Community Kitchen Garden. Altria still holds the lead for total number of associates – and total hours – laboring in the garden year-to-date: 37 associates; 137 hours. Dominion Power is currently running third and has two other work sessions scheduled, and Bank of America is getting ready to take up the challenge.

Seriously, it’s not a race, not a competition. These corporate giants spread the value of their volunteer labor across many, many worthy causes in our community. FeedMore and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden are honored and grateful to receive this tremendous scale of corporate assistance. These groups have combined with volunteers registered through HandsOn Greater Richmond and Lewis Ginter core volunteers to contribute hundreds of hours of labor in the Community Kitchen Garden already this season.

The Genworth visit spurred much progress in the garden: weeding, planting & feeding & tying & staking tomatoes, mulching and constructing a cucumber trellis. Imagine the progress gained via more than 90 hours of labor in one morning.

The Genworth team in the Community Kitchen Garden – June 13, 2012.

 

Genworth volunteers get a chance to check the headlines before using newspaper as a layer of mulch for the zucchini plants.

 

We seize every opportunity to have all the eyes and hands available inspect the cucurbits for squash bug eggs.

 

Jonah Holland is Digital Content Manager at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, where she has worked for 14 years overseeing social media, the blog, and the website. She is also a mom, yogi, open water swimmer, gardener, and seeker. She's been known to go for a walk in the Garden and come back with hundreds of plant photos, completely inspired to write her next blog post.

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