Building a greener future together
Employees from Swiss Re’s North America headquarters in Armonk, NY, traded their business suits for blue jeans November 7 and spent the day building a sustainable campsite at the Rock Hill Girl Scout camp in Mahopac, NY. Dubbed “Building a greener future together”, the day-long event served as the kickoff for a larger partnership with the Girl Scouts which will include a mentoring program and support towards the construction of an environmental learning center.
Donna Kinnaird, Swiss Re’s President of Americas Life & Health, led the charge by announcing the partnership in March and then rolling up sleeves at the work day along with 100 volunteers from Swiss Re and Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson.
The group eagerly went to work transforming a currently unused area into a fully useable campsite unit by constructing tent platforms using a variety of materials including a wood substitute made from recycled soda bottles. They also constructed compost bins, split wood, planted bulbs, and raked and manicured the campsite grounds.
The completed campsite unit, which will enable the Girl Scouts to host approximately 600 additional campers per year, will also have a wash house with environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional wash units, and displays to educate the campers about the importance of environmental stewardship and the sustainable and “green” products used in the site’s construction.
“Swiss Re’s financial support and our work at the camp will help educate young women about the importance of taking care of our environment,” says Kinnaird. “The outing also gave each of us the opportunity to meet and enjoy new Swiss Re colleagues. We were happy to spend a high energy day ‘in the mud’ working together.”
Cari Hallion, Rock Hill Camp Director, is excited about the Swiss Re partnership: “The site will give us a tangible place to put into action all the lessons we are trying to teach our Girl Scouts about sustainable living. This is the first unit of this type in any of the Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson camp properties and it is our hope that the lessons learned on this project can lead to further development as we work to build a green future together throughout the Hudson Valley.”
Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson serves more than 34,000 girls throughout seven counties in the Hudson Valley region of New York state. During the 2007 season, Rock Hill Camp served 14,000 girls in troop events, community camping and program opportunities.
As a major corporate citizen in Westchester county and throughout the world, Swiss Re supports a number of sponsorship initiatives that align with our core value of sustainability.
