ROGERS -- Laughter filled the air as Sam's Club employees joked with each other while clearing brush behind the garden at Souls Harbor.
About 40 employees volunteered four hours Friday afternoon at the nonprofit that provides transitional housing for men. Some employees planted vegetables in the garden while others planted seedlings in the greenhouse. Some worked on the herb garden beds.
At A Glance
Sam’s Club executives challenged employees across the country at all 649 Sam’s Club stores to engage in sustainability projects in April, according to Diana Gee, senior media relations manager. More than 200 Sam’s Club employees from Northwest Arkansas signed up for area projects.
Source: Staff Report
Souls Harbor was just one of a few Northwest Arkansas locations where Sam's Club employees helped with projects to mark the company's first Sustainability Day.
Charles Redfield, executive vice president of merchandising, was clearing brush to make room for an orchard behind Souls Harbor.
"Stewardship of the environment is a good thing and is part of who we are as a company," Redfield said.
Volunteer projects like Friday's allows employees to get to know one another and their community better, Redfield said. He said many in his group didn't know anything about Souls Harbor.
Fruit trees will be planted in the orchard this fall, said Rachel Cox, executive director of Souls Harbor.
The organization can provide transitional living for 22 men at a time. The average stay is six months, Cox said. Clients apply for residency and have to be working or going to school. They are also encouraged to take classes like financial literacy and parenting provided by the organization.
More than 90 percent of the residents are fathers, Cox said.
"We use the garden as a healing modality for a lot of our guys," she said. "Being able to watch something that you plant as a seed come to fruition is extremely healing for them. Beyond just the food it produces, being able to see that they have purpose and value in what they're doing and that they can create something really beautiful is almost a greater asset."
Cox said she was excited to receive the help. "Volunteers are the root of everything that we do here," she said.
Another group of about 40 Sam's Club employees were busy at the Illinois River Watershed Partnership in Cave Springs.
Employees cleaned out the greenhouse, mulched the rain gardens, cleared debris from the walking trail, built frames for four floating wetlands and identified native plants.
"This would take us all year what they're getting done in four hours today," said Delia Haak, executive director. "It really just helps us maintain this whole property, and 32 acres is a lot of property to maintain."
Don Frieson, executive vice president of Sam's Club operations, drove by the watershed every day for 15 years but Friday was the first time he was on the property.
"This is really cool," he said, describing the cave and water on the property. "It really brings a new meaning to Cave Springs."
NW News on 04/25/2015