Statesville Record and Landmark
By Bethany Fuller | Statesville R&L
Published: April 23, 2009
When Tammy Borders left for work at Clearview Christian Academy in Cleveland on Wednesday morning, she had no idea what her front yard would look like when she returned.
For years, large shrubs and azaleas dominated the front of her house, where her husband, U.S. Army Reserve Chaplin Brad Borders, grew up.
By the time Tammy got home, the lawn had been transformed.
The landscaping was part of an Earth Day project a crew of volunteers with Keller's Lawn Service and North Pointe Lawn Care performed through Project EverGreen's GreenCare for Troops program.
"Oh my goodness! This is just gorgeous," Tammy Borders recalled thinking when she pulled up after school.
The once overgrown shrubbery was replaced with a patchwork of various plants, flowers and mulch. It took 35 man-hours and a whole lot of donations, but Keller's owner Joe Keller and North Pointe owner Paul Cockerham seemed rather pleased with their work.
"This is 100 percent top notch," Keller said. "I would like this at my house."
By 9 a.m., the crews had pulled up eight bushes from the front of the house and were tilling the land. Most of the volunteers know Brad Borders, who is about to start his second deployment to Iraq.
The two Statesville businesses coordinated the landscape makeover through green-industry nonprofit Project EverGreen's enlisted military outreach program, GreenCare for Troops.
Around 50 Project EverGreen providers participated in the nationwide Professional Landcare Network Day of Service on Wednesday. PLANET members participated in 280 projects nationwide and in Canada.
"They wanted to do something big for Earth Day," Keller said.
Keller said GreenCare gave him Brad Borders' name and contact information to set up the makeover.
For a paying customer, the labor and material would have cost nearly $4,000. However, the landscaping companies volunteered their services and rustled up donations for materials from area businesses, such as The Home Depot, Sharpe's Lawn Equipment, Shaver Wood Products, Village Inn Pizza and Morning Dew Greenhouse Nursery.
Keller's father served in World War II and his brother in Vietnam. By the time his turn came around, the country was at peace.
"I guess this is my way of being in the military," he said.
Keller, David Bevis, Cockerham, Robert Anderson and Kenny Davis either took an unpaid day off from work or volunteered.
The crew pulled out 12 shrubs — four from the side yard and eight from the front.
"It feels good," said Bevis, who got someone to cover for him at the Ropes Challenge Course at Iredell County's Outdoor Education Center.
Bevis said he's done his share of weed trimming and lawn mowing for other military families in Statesville, but nothing like this.
Davis doesn't have any connection to the landscaping business, other than being Keller's neighbor. He decided not to accept any construction jobs on Wednesday to help out.
"I know Brad," he said. "I think it's worth it. I think it's a good thing."
Cockerham became involved with Project EverGreen two weeks ago. The former Marine knows what it is like to be away from your family. He served in Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
Cockerham and Keller want to set another program up for veterans of other wars. Currently, GreenCare for Troops applies only to enlisted military personnel.
"I would like to do one of these a quarter," Cockerham said. "Not just Iraq or Afghanistan veterans, but World War II, Korea and Vietnam as well. A lot of them are where they aren't physically able and they are just as deserving."
