Timberland Kicks Off Five-Year Urban Greening Commitment with Restoration Project in New York

Jun 30, 2016 12:00 PM ET

Campaign: Timberland’s Commitment to the Outdoors

On June 22, Timberland partnered with local non-profit GrowNYC to restore the United We Stand Garden in the Mott Haven neighborhood of South Bronx, NY. Volunteers built and painted benches, picnic tables, and reconstructed gardens to provide an inviting outdoor space for the community. Generations of local Mott Hoven residents were in attendance to celebrate and help restore the new site they will enjoy for years to come.

For years this area was home to a heavily used community center of gardens, but after a damaging fire two years ago, all gardens were cleared and the land pictured above remained.

The land pictured above stood untouched for almost two years prior to Timberland’s efforts to restore the United We Stand Garden. Timberland and local nonprofit GrowNYC collaborated on June 22 to bring back the neighborhood’s beautiful garden that will function not only as a destination for urban agriculture, but an outdoor recreational hub for the surrounding community.

Trash, rubble, and debris took over the United We Stand Garden for almost two years. On June 22, things changed for the community as Timberland volunteers and GrowNYC revitalized this neglected space of the Mott Hoven neighborhood into a community garden center that is ready to flourish.

To kick off its commitment to create and restore urban green spaces in five cities over the next five years, Timberland, its partners and local non-profit GrowNYC, dedicated their day to restoring the United We Stand Garden in South Bronx, NY. The new green space functions as a destination for urban agriculture and an outdoor hub for the surrounding community to share.

Timberland and other volunteers will continue to serve in the garden throughout the summer, and the space will officially open to the community this fall. Enthusiasm is high as community families are eager to begin using the space. Local residents lent a hand to plant a new flower garden for community members.

This once vacant lot gets the care and attention it needs to thrive. Timberland volunteers revamp the garden by building 30 new garden beds in which community members will grow their own fresh produce.

Last week, global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland helped transform a community garden in New York as part of the brand’s commitment to urban greening. More than 100 volunteers pulled on their boots in partnership with local non-profit GrowNYC, to restore the United We Stand Garden—a 32,000 sq. foot garden in the Mott Haven neighborhood of South Bronx.

Building on the Stratham, New Hampshire-based brand’s longstanding commitment to protect and restore the outdoors, Timberland has set a goal to double its footprint in five U.S. cities by 2020—but not in the way you might think. For each of the next five years, the brand will choose a different city with a Timberland® store and will match the retail square footage with the creation or restoration of an equivalent area of green space in that community.

Timberland employees, business partners, community, families and children showed up in force to bring life back to this vacant lot. Together the crew moved almost 20 tons of woodchips and topsoil, in addition to building 30 raised garden beds, several benches and picnic tables, a wall for a mural, a new base for a shed and more. With each raised garden bed providing 1,312 square feet of food growing space, that’s a potential yield of 2,000 pounds of food per year for United We Stand Gardeners and the Mott Haven Community.

Click through the slideshow above to see a sampling of what happened at Timberland’s urban greening service project.

To learn more about Timberland’s proactive efforts to make a difference in terms of its products, the outdoors, and the communities it serves, visit: https://www.timberland.com/responsibility.html.

Timberland Kicks Off Five-Year Urban Greening Commitment with Restoration Project in New York

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