Heineken USA, headquartered in White Plains, has a global initiative called “Brewing a Better World” that is designed to be the umbrella for its community service efforts. As part of that, each year, for the past 10 years, it has designated a “Day of Giving” during which employees volunteer for local projects. This year, on June 9, instead of reporting to the office, 110 Heineken USA employees gathered in Ardsley at the South County Trailway to join with GrowNYC and Ground Work Hudson in making improvements to the bicycle and pedestrian pathway. It is on the right-of-way of the former Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad. Much of the land surrounding the pathway remains as significant greenspace for the communities it passes through.
The volunteers focused on a ¾-mile section of the trailway. They worked on maintenance of 200 trees, moved seven tons of wood chips and painted 50 garden signs. They also built wooden frames for 24 garden beds and set them up to create 768 square feet of growing area capable of producing more than 1,000 pounds of produce a year. They also built four picnic tables.
Heineken says that the in the past 10 years, its employees have donated about 8,000 volunteer hours to projects similar to this year”™s “Day of Giving” effort to improve the South County Trailway.
