TruGreen Transforms Vacant House Lot into Vibrant Community Garden in Lansing, Michigan

LANSING, Mich., May 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- TruGreen joined the City of Lansing in unveiling Osband Orchard, a fruit tree orchard, harvestable perennial garden and open green space for families and friends to gather in the Moores Park neighborhood, one of Lansing's five blight elimination areas. The new outdoor community gathering place, located at 1845 Osband Avenue, was once the site of a derelict, vacant house and overgrown lot.

TruGreen partnered with the City of Lansing last fall to identify the site as part of the company's TruNeighbor program, an initiative aimed to help build and beautify communities by increasing access to green spaces and helping more people live life outside. Under the program, TruGreen provided funds and in-kind services to help transform the site which has been under construction since September of 2015. The project was managed by the city's Department of Planning and Neighborhood Development in coordination with the Ingham County Land Bank that facilitated the demolition of the property. 

"We are proud to call the City of Lansing our TruNeighbor and see what was once a community eyesore transform into a beautiful park for residents to enjoy," said Craig Raycraft, Michigan region manager for TruGreen. "It's TruGreen's mission to help more people live life outside and we know more green spaces in urban areas are needed to help achieve this goal."

Osband Orchard was unveiled today in a ceremony attended by Mayor Virg Bernero as well as Barb Kimmel, interim development coordinator for the City of Lansing, Liz Landingham, general manager of TruGreen and Jeff Burdick, Ingham County Land Bank executive director, among other community leaders. During the ceremony Mayor Bernero highlighted the city's revitalization efforts and presented the TruGreen TruNeighbor award to Natalie Molnar, president of the Moores Park Neighborhood Association. Molnar was honored with the award for her unwavering commitment to community service through her work as president of the Moores Park Neighborhood Association.

"The TruGreen TruNeighbor project is a great example of the transformation that can happen when public and private entities come together for the common good," said Mayor Bernero. "I want to thank TruGreen for helping to make this possible as we look forward to even more community revitalization projects in our neighborhoods."

In the fall of 2015, TruGreen embarked on TruNeighbor community beautification projects in Lansing, Michigan and Gary, Indiana. This year, TruGreen has partnered with Keep America Beautiful to launch similar projects in Jacksonville, Florida, Kansas City, Missouri and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About TruGreen
Memphis, Tenn.-based TruGreen is the nation's largest lawn care company, serving more than 2.3 million residential and commercial customers across the United States with lawn, tree and shrub care. TruGreen believes more life should be lived outside and is committed to providing a beautiful lawn to serve as the foundation for outside experiences and lifelong memories. As the leader in the professional lawn care industry, TruGreen helps define responsible lawn care practices, conducts industry-leading education and training for our people, pioneers new application technologies and educates our customers on proper mowing and wise-use watering techniques. Today, there are more than 260 TruGreen lawn care branches and satellite offices in the United States and Canada. 

Go to TruGreen.com or facebook.com/TruGreen for more information.

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SOURCE TruGreen

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