Volunteers Continue Sandy Recovery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side
On November 15th, over 40 employee volunteers from SCA’s partner MUFG Union Bank gathered on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to restore East River Park as part of MUFG’s National Employee Volunteer Month.
East River Park — a 57-acre oasis of green between the FDR highway and the East River, and one of the city’s most active routes for runners and cyclists — is still feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy. During the storm, the park was flooded with feet of salt water, contaminating the soil and leaving many of the park’s towering plane trees struggling to survive.
This weekend, volunteers from SCA and MUFG Union Bank stepped in to spread healthy new topsoil and mulch to reduce salt contamination and give trees’ stressed root systems a boost to survive the winter months. With the ground prepped, park staff will be able to seed new grass to create healthy lawns for park visitors to enjoy. MUFG volunteers also planted Spanish bluebell bulbs along the park’s bike path, which will fill the park with color come spring.
By the end of the project, volunteers had spread 12,000 sq ft of topsoil and planted 1500 flower bulbs. “We are so grateful to have so many helping hands from SCA and MUFG,” said NYC Parks Manhattan Park Manager Terese Flores. “By restoring these spaces, we are helping to ensure that people can have positive experiences in our urban parks.”
While MUFG employees in NYC were hard at work at East River Park, MUFG Union Bank employees on the West Coast joined SCA for a service project at Encanto Park in San Diego. From coast to coast, MUFG is giving back — bringing out employee volunteers to make a hands-on impact in the field, and supporting SCA’s community programs year-round to allow urban teens to have similar experiences building green job skills and contributing to the health of their parks and communities.
See more photos from this event.
