Traveling assistance

For the third straight year, franchise owners and employees of Nutri-Lawn from Canada and the U.S. went to the Dominican Republic for a week to volunteer at a local orphanage, maintaining a 30,000 sq. ft. soccer field they installed. As part of a project called re:nourish, volunteers help the orphanage achieve its goal of being self-sufficient in the production of its own fruits and vegetables. Here are some photos from past trips.

Photo 2: Locals help volunteers sort through sod to find large, square shaped pieces, which can be a challenge. This helps support families from a nearby village by providing a source of income. Most of the poorer workers are from Haiti and came to the Dominican Republic in search of steady work in the sugar cane fields. Today there is less work due to advancements in the technology for harvesting the sugar cane, leaving families struggling to provide regular meals and safe housing for their families.

Photo 4: It wasn’t all hard work on the trip. A BBQ extravaganza was set up, which included 800 hot dogs, 800 buns, 60 bottles of pop, 300 packages of cookies, 400 suckers and all the condiments that go with it. The food was purchased with money donated by Nutri-Lawn, Toro and Intellex, along with personal donations. 

Photo 5: After installing irrigation on the fruit orchard the first year, volunteers learned that machetes used to clear the field don’t mix well with the pipes. Here, one of the franchisees shows a local volunteer staff member how to repair broken pieces. The Nutri-Lawn volunteers leave behind all parts and tools they take with them.

Photo 6: Volunteers repaired and prepared a lot where 100 fruit trees were planted last year. The fruit trees were planted at the Don Juan Community Outreach Center to be distributed amongst the local bateyes, which are company towns where sugar workers live. While some trees were in good shape, a number of trees had died or were stolen off the property by poor families.