Here at K&D Landscaping, our team lives the K&D Core Values, especially hunger. The K&D team possess a hunger for landscaping and a desire to improve the appearance of the local community. We define hunger as having the desire and dedication to go above and beyond what is expected for landscaping and improving the appearance of our local community. The idea of sharing this hunger with our local community was sparked by an office conversation in late 2016. Then we began thinking of ways to engage the community, especially the youth, and how to put these ideas into actions. As a result, our team came up with the ongoing Community Beautification Project.
At first it was an ambitious goal, but we set a goal to perform one beautification project per quarter, that’s four per year. Once the word spread about the new campaign, there was an overwhelming response of nominations. We have focused these projects on non-profit organizations and local schools that are in need of landscape improvements. According to our CEO, Justin White, “Getting to see the faces of the people this benefits after the project is complete makes our whole team smile!” We encourage all team members to give back and volunteer in the community as part of living the Core Values here at K&D. We understand the time and financial hardships it can create, so to help everyone participate, our employees are still compensated for their work on these projects even though K&D does not receive any revenue from it. “It is something we are very proud to be able to do,” says White.
The projects have made an impact on countless sites throughout the Santa Cruz County. From historical houses, to women and children shelters, to vegetable gardens at elementary schools, and even county parks, our K&D team strongly believes in giving back to the community that has given us so much for the past 33 years of business. A beautiful landscape is always refreshing to see & can easily make a community members day brighter or better.
The Aptos Village Park Community Beautification took the typical beautification to the next level by improving the overall sustainability of the park. Aptos Village Park was in dire need of improvements from erosion issues and outdated irrigation and landscaping. We installed a rock retaining wall with drought resistant plants to reduce erosion and updated the irrigation system to eliminate water waste from the insufficient irrigation system.
One of the largest beautification projects we have been fortunate enough to sponsor was the Chanticleer Park, or better known as “Leo’s Haven,” in Live Oak. Justin, himself, provided countless hours of volunteer time to complete the project. He was able to leverage the resources of K&D along with eight other landscape companies by donating materials to make the park a reality! More info on this specific project can be found here:
https://www.countyparkfriends.org/article-kd-landscaping.html
Furthermore Justin has been continuing his efforts in his local area by volunteering with multiple non-profits. White’s biggest volunteer role has been the Chapter President of the Central Coast Chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association. He has focused his role on improving the industry and providing resources for new and beginning landscape businesses so they too can be successful in the Santa Cruz County.
We are honored to be the recipient of the 2019 Be the Difference Award due to our volunteerism throughout Santa Cruz County. Every year the volunteer center in Santa Cruz asks for nominations of businesses, groups, and individuals to share their story of how they are giving back to the community.
If there is a local school or community area that is in need & deserving of K&D’s Beautification Project, please send nominations to info@kndlandscaping-staging.bwg4tgaj-liquidwebsites.com