In honor of Earth Day, more than 100 PSEG Long Island employees came together in the Town of Oyster Bay last week to beautify Anchor Park in Massapequa, reduce Long Island’s carbon footprint by helping customers lower their overall electrical demand and educate the next generation about the importance of conserving energy.
Rick Walden, vice president of customer services, says that the effort is part of PSEG’s community partnership program.
“My team kind of quarterbacks it,” said Walden. “This is part of an enterprise wide initiative to support one of the four pillars of our mission statement which is giving back to the community. Our employees are Long Island residents and they get excited about helping their friends and neighbors in their community, so they can bring ideas to our program and get involved.”
PSEG asked the town what park would be the best one to help beautify. Shortly after 8 a.m., a team of employee volunteers arrived at Anchor Park and spent the day making improvements to the playground and replanting the flower beds.
“I arrived at the opening ceremony and our employees were a little nervous because there was a vicious storm that ripped through the area and we were worried we weren’t even going to have the event,” said Walden. “They did tree planting, mulching, planted flowers and general clean-up. It was a really nice, full day of work and the weather ended up cooperating. There was lots of patches of sunshine between the clouds.”
“This is an incredible opportunity for the Town of Oyster Bay and PSEG Long Island to partner with each other for the benefit of the entire community—and the earth,” said Tim Harris, who lives in Massapequa and volunteered in the efforts to help the town last week. “I am fortunate to be both a Town of Oyster Bay resident and PSEG Long Island employee.”
Later in the morning, PSEG Long Island volunteers distributed free LED light bulbs and reusable shopping bags to shoppers at the Stop & Shop supermarket in Massapequa, while another teams of employees went to other parts of the Town of Oyster Bay to give out these items. Some even went door to door to promote methods of helping the environment.
“Earth Week is an important event,” said Robert Wozniak, a PSEG Long Island employee and Jericho resident who handed out reusable shopping bags and flower seeds. “With 7 billion people in the world, we all need to take care of it. The company support is important, and I am proud to say that PSEG Long Island really commits to our volunteer efforts.”
Supervisor Joseph Saladino was on the scene as PSEG was helping shape up Anchor Park. In addition to helping with the event, he presented a citation to the PSEG workers for the hard work they put in.
“Throughout the month of April we take time to explore nature, reflect on our planet’s health and take action to better our environment,” said Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino. “I thank the workforce of PSEG Long Island for their volunteerism, distribution of seeds and reusable bags, and for their cleanup and beautification efforts at Anchor Park in Massapequa. The Town of Oyster Bay welcomes green volunteerism beyond Earth Day and offers residents opportunities throughout the year as we beautify parks, cleanup shorelines, and strengthen our dunes. Save our planet, save ourselves, and volunteer today.”
Leading up to Earth Day last Monday, hundreds of PSEG Long Island volunteers worked in five towns across Long Island as part of a large-scale effort to make public spaces greener, help residential customers use less energy and help small businesses find new ways to save on more-efficient lighting. The events in Massapequa and around the Town of Oyster Bay was the kickoff to those efforts.
For more information on PSEG Long Island and its efforts to support the community, visit www.psegliny.com/inthecommunity/communitypartnership.
