500 GE volunteers descend on Brooklawn

Oct. 12, 2009 - More than 500 employees from GE's Appliance Park took time away from their jobs to volunteer at Brooklawn on Monday.

The group, known as the GE Volunteers, chooses a non-profit organization each year to conduct an annual Fall service project. This year, Brooklawn was the recipient and projects included landscaping, painting, building benches and picnic tables, a gazebo, a playground, and a deck on Brooklawn's Volunteer Center.

"GE employees are working on nearly 30 different projects on campus," said Brooklawn President/CEO David A. Graves. "We couldn't have accomplished a fraction of what they did without it being a major undertaking for us - and they were able to do all these things in one day."

GE employees arrived on Brooklawn's campus by bus about 5 AM and immediately broke off into teams - each with a specific task. Individual projects were predetermined through a collaborative effort between GE and Brooklawn.

The work included putting in more than 400 shrubs and 65 trees; building planters in front of cottages, 20 picnic tables, fencing and a deck; assembling playground equipment; painting the gymnasium, community room and cottages; repairing wood trim and guttters; and constructing a gazebo designed by GE engineers.

GE Team Leaders have been meeting with Brooklawn staff for several months coordinating the projects, equipment and materials needed for the projects and it culminated in a well-orchestrated, well-organized day of work.

At noon the group met in front of Brooklawn's Administration Building and received a big "thank you" from the Chair of GE Volunteers council, Steve Sheltz; Jim Campbell, President/CEO of GE Consumer & Industrial; and David Graves, Brooklawn's President/CEO. Rep. John Yarmuth, was even on hand to thank the group for its efforts.

David A. Graves	Rep. John Yarmuth

In all about $200,000 worth of man-hours and materials was donated.

“This gives us a chance to show the community how much we care and just give them an opportunity to really see what we can do for the community,” says project leader Jonathan Cunningham, of GE.

Along with the cosmetic changes that took place, Graves said the children of Brooklawn will benefit in other ways.

"Having groups on campus, especially something as large as this effort, shows the boys and girls who live here, that there are people in this world who value them and want to help them succeed," he said. "It really makes a difference to them to know that they have this kind of support from the community."