Culture

Planting a Memory Garden to Honor Those Lost to COVID

Giving back is often most effective at the grassroots level—in the case of Ruppert Landscape, quite literally. Most recently, the company participated in a public art installation commemorating American lives lost to the pandemic.
By Christopher Durso
December 1, 2021
Topics
Culture

Giving back is often most effective at the grassroots level—in the case of Ruppert Landscape, quite literally. Most recently, the Laytonsville, Maryland–headquartered commercial landscape construction and management company participated in a public art installation commemorating the hundreds of thousands of American lives lost to the pandemic.

As part of visual artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg’s In America: Remember exhibition, Ruppert hand-installed more than 660,000 white flags on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., over several days in September. Each flag represented someone who died from COVID-19, reflecting the national death toll as of that point.

“This was a little out of the normal scope of our community-service efforts,” says Bob Jones, president of Ruppert’s landscape construction division. “But, we were honored to take part in this impactful project that enabled so many to mourn, reflect and find some degree of closure for their lost loved ones.”

FLAGS FOR THE FALLEN

Firstenberg conceived of In America: Remember as a memorial that also functioned as a physical manifestation of empathy. Ruppert worked with her to bring that vision to life, using aerial mapping and design software to create a grid of 143 sections spaced evenly over 20 acres of the National Mall. A Ruppert team member then used PVC pipe to create a grid tool for volunteers to use in planting the four-inch-by-five-inch flags.

All told, approximately 300 Ruppert employees from 10 D.C.-area branches participated in In America: Remember, with the company donating more than 2,000 labor hours to this version of the exhibition. Ruppert also participated in the project’s first installation at Washington’s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in October 2020, which involved 267,080 flags.

“When people say, ‘We couldn’t have done it without you,’ they are usually speaking figuratively,” Firstenberg said in a statement. “Without Ruppert Landscape, I literally could not have created In America: Remember. … Ruppert Landscape models corporate goodness, setting the bar high for other companies.”

JUST GOOD BUSINESS

Indeed, corporate goodness is built into Ruppert’s business model. The company donates 5% of its annual profits to charitable causes, with 2% of that amount managed directly by local branches, to make sure that employees are closely involved in these programs. The remaining 3% includes money allocated to help employees in need. For Ruppert, it’s a self-rewarding dynamic.

“It’s more than just donating money,” Jones says. “We get our team members directly involved in charitable projects to ensure that each of them experiences that feeling of good will that comes with giving back to our community. Having a social conscience is a self-perpetuating thing—it helps the community, it motivates our employees and gives them pride in the company, those employees work hard at keeping our customers happy because they work for an organization that they believe in, and in turn, the company continues to be financially successful, which enables us to contribute even more money to worthy causes.”

Another recent Ruppert giving-back project took place in June 2021, when more than 80 employees from D.C., Maryland and Virginia helped finish up the grounds of Children’s National Hospital’s new Research & Innovation Campus—donating $175,000 in time and materials in the process. Ruppert also has long-term partnerships with organizations such as Food For The Poor and Easterseals, and at press time was planning to overhaul the landscaping at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington’s headquarters property.

“Getting involved in community service efforts helps give meaning to the construction projects that I work on by being able to work one-on-one with the community that I’ve helped build those projects for,” says John Parsley, project manager in Ruppert’s Maryland landscape construction branch. “It also gives me a chance to connect with fellow Ruppert employees that I don’t typically engage with on a regular basis. Having that kind of culture in a company not only helps build relationships in and outside of work but can make a huge impact on one’s outlook in their work life by physically seeing firsthand that their hard work is appreciated by others.”

by Christopher Durso

Chris leads Construction Executive’s day-to-day operations—overseeing all print and digital content, design and production efforts, and working with the editorial team to tell the many stories of America’s builders and contractors. An experienced association magazine editor, writer and publications strategist, he is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University and lives in Arlington, Virginia.

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