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Groundwork Bridgeport
510 Barnum Ave, Suite 304
Bridgeport, CT 06608
203-335-6126
Contact: Richard J. Tiani
Executive Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Groundwork Bridgeport is holding Thank You Luncheon for supporters of the Green Team at Weir Farm.
July 22, 2009 – On July 30, Groundwork Bridgeport will be holding a thank you luncheon for all those who have supported our Green Team program for at risk high school students at Weir Farm National Historic Site.
The Green Team program is a summer job training and environmental education program for Bridgeport high school youth. The program empowers and prepares youth to become productive citizens of their community and the economy as they transition from high school to the workplace. The Green Teams is a natural outcome of Groundwork Bridgeport’s commitment to help communities eliminate environmental poverty and become vibrant, healthy, and safe places.
Each summer 15-18 students from Warren Harding High School have the opportunity for a paid summer landscaping internship with Groundwork Bridgeport. After the high school students have volunteered in the Butterflies Are Teachers program, they can apply for the Green Team and if chosen, start landscape training prior to the summer work. Inner-city youth have few opportunities to experience nature and the environment outside of Bridgeport. Thus, in addition to a paying job, the Green Team program offers unique experiences outside of the city. Our students have had the opportunity to hike on the Appalachian Trail, build trails at Weir Farm National Historic Site, and visit college campuses such as FairfieldUniversity and SacredHeartUniversity.
For Bridgeport youth, the Green Team program can offer an invaluable experience. The summer internship is the first job most of our students have held. Having summer work enables the students to earn and save money, to be trained with a marketable skill, to learn appropriate workplace behavior, and to stay involved in safe and healthy activities. The students often comment that they like the tangible results of their work. A hard day’s work in a garden has visible results for the team. The program instills a sense of responsibility in the workers, and older students may be appointed as supervisors for groups of new and younger students in the program. The supervisors are rewarded with an increase in pay if they show appropriate leadership and responsibility.
On July 30th from noon to 1:30 p.m., Groundwork Bridgeport will be holding a complimentary Thank You Luncheon to show our appreciation to all of the organizations that have helped the Green Team Program become a positive influence in the lives of so many Bridgeport teens. The luncheon will be held at Weir Farm National Historic site, where the Green Team has carried out many service projects, including the restoration of a historic rock wall. Groundwork has invited members of The National Park Service, the Office of Congressman Jim Himes, Bridgeport’s Inner City Foundation for Charity and Education, The Fairfield County Community Foundation and The Tauck Foundation of Norwalk, The Tow Foundation of Wilton, The Perrin Family Foundation of Ridgefield, Meriden’s Tremaine Foundation, and the Anne S. Richardson Foundation of New York City.
For more information about Groundwork Bridgeport and their work in the community, please call us at: (203) 335-6126, or visit us on the web at: www.groundworkbridgeport.org |
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