Swinging Into Action
LexisNexis has begun a new tradition: using company gatherings like sales meetings, customer events and industry conferences as opportunities to give back to the communities in which our employees and customers live and work. It's a chance to work side-by-side with people in the community to make a difference in a project or effort that touches their daily lives.
The flood waters that swept away much of New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005 also took out the heart of one community: the Torres Park playground in the hard hit St. Bernard Parish. Built five years ago, the original park was designed by the children of St. Bernard and quickly became the center of the community.
But in less than 15 minutes, the entire parish was wiped away. Water from breeched levees smashed homes or washed houses completely off their foundations, leaving 100 percent of the homes in St. Bernard were uninhabitable. Torres Park itself sustained significant storm damage, including the loss of trees and landscaping. Even worse, the flood was just the first catastrophe to hit the neighborhood park – last New Year's Day a vandal set fire to a large potion of the playground.
LexisNexis Cares volunteers in April 2008 helped rebuild the 12,000-square-foot playground which now includes added interactive play areas, a tree fort and an Eiffel Tower climbing wall. It also includes two new pavilions for children's birthday parties. The volunteers also continued a LexisNexis mission: to engage our employees with people in communities around the world.
Recently, 200 senior management members from around the world – in New Orleans for an annual summit meeting – volunteered to help rebuild a playground. "We chose New Orleans for the meeting because we felt strongly there was an important need there to invest our resources in that hard hit community," said Elizabeth Rector, Sr. Vice President, Corporate Responsibility.
"Just as important, we saw an opportunity for our employees to do volunteer work in an area that still needs assistance."
LexisNexis employees and customers worked alongside community leaders to prepare Torres Park in the St. Bernard parish for a larger rehabilitation project scheduled for the following week. In just a single afternoon, the volunteers made significant progress. They landscaped portions of the playground, planted trees, mulched beds, cleaned playground equipment, stained wooden structures and power-washed a tent used to be used as a dining facility for future volunteers.
"LexisNexis not only kicked off the new playground’s rebuilding, they played a key role in helping to restore a sense of normalcy to a community still struggling to recover from the lingering effects of one of the nation's most devastating natural disasters," said Selene Edmunds, Director of LexisNexis Cares.