On Friday, October 20, 2023, Walden held its annual volunteer day. This year, employees from our Oyster Bay, Hudson Valley, and Connecticut offices met up at Green Chimneys in Brewster, NY. Green Chimneys is a nonprofit that provides a wide variety of services to both children and young adults with special needs and the surrounding community.
Green Chimneys offers both residential and day schooling for kids in grades K-12. Its Brewster campus is located on a farm, where over 300 animals reside. The animals help to support the children, who interact closely with them. On our tour of the campus, Walden employees saw cows, large and miniature horses, goats, pigs, camels, and llamas. There are also several animals living in the Green Chimneys wildlife sanctuary.
In addition to functioning as a school, Green Chimneys also provides support services to runaway and homeless youth; helps educate local students about sustainable practices and environmental protection; runs day camp programs; and puts on events and encourages visits from families all year.
Upon arrival at Green Chimneys, Walden’s volunteers were assigned to work on the fences on campus. We braved a very rainy morning to strip paint off of the fence in front of Green Chimneys. In the afternoon, we moved on to the fence surrounding an animal enclosure. Our work allowed the maintenance team to devote their resources to other tasks, and will make it easier for them to paint once weather conditions allow!
Walden is proud to continue the tradition of holding an annual day of service. Having the ability to give back to the communities where we work and live is very important to us, and we have been lucky to have partnered with several amazing organizations over the years. We are very grateful to Green Chimneys for welcoming us for Walden Day this year. To read more about Green Chimneys, visit their website here. A big thank you also goes to all of Walden’s volunteers for working hard and giving your time to help – we are very fortunate to have you all on the team!
If you are interested in working for a company that values giving back, check out Walden’s open positions here. You can learn about our past Walden Days here, and please contact us at 516-271-1948 if you are in need of volunteers – we would be happy to speak to nonprofits about potentially connecting for a future day of service.
