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Front Royal is Essroc’s Mid-Atlantic Brixment masonry color blending facility located in the north-western corner of Virginia, about 50 miles south of the Martinsburg plant, where the cement to be processed there is sourced.
When Jennifer, a member of Front Royal’s Girl Scout Troop 486, wrote a letter to local businesses, she did not anticipate that the response of Essroc employees would aim higher than her original request. Jennifer and her troop had set themselves the goal of getting a “Gold Award”, the highest honor a Girl Scout can receive. Jennifer knew that to complete her project she needed the help of local corporations. She also found people with a good heart.
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| Warren County Workshop, renewal of the outside garden | As soon as Essroc’s Interim Facility Superintendent Mike Meysing read her letter he knew that this project required more than just writing a check. For Jennifer and her troops had set out to renovate the Warren County Workshop: “a place where people with disabilities go to receive help and education on life skills to work and maintain a position in society. The Workshop’s mission is to provide assessments, vocational training, and job placement to people with disabilities”. In her letter Jennifer described some of the activities conducted by the workers at the Workshop, such as assisting each other in packaging, assembling small parts, collating, labeling, scanning documents, embossing and shredding, and made a compelling case: the sum of all these activities creates opportunities for the participants of the Workshop, who then have access to rehabilitation services, on-the-job training, life skills development, and volunteer services. To better understand their needs, Jennifer went as far as to interview workers at the Workshop and saw for herself how important it is for them to reach their goals. Yet Jennifer also realized that she and her troops were facing the renovation of very old premises, requiring a great deal of money and materials.
Stirred by Jennifer’s passionate plea, Mike Meysing investigated whether Essroc might be of help with its “cement” expertise. Helped by other plant workers, he set his sights on renovating the outside garden, after learning that a concrete pad was required to pave the area and aid public access to it. Benches would also have to be set on the pad, to be used by the Workshop members.
Gary Hennen, Operations Manager, organized the activities and worked with Beverly Clowser in Customer Service to locate a ready-mix producer willing to provide and deliver the concrete made with cement that would be supplied by Essroc. A company by the name of Crider-Shockey graciously agreed to the request.
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| The renovated garden at the Warren County Workshop | None of this could have been carried through without the necessary manpower, and several members of the plant’s Maintenance Department volunteered to get involved in making it happen. The local labor union backed up the effort involved and authorized the rather unusual task.
Essroc’s skilled volunteer workers prepared and formed the area and then placed and finished the concrete pad. Going beyond the original scope of the project, the Essroc team performed extra work on the grounds near the construction area, and good things turned even better for the Workshop when someone from Essroc noticed that their lawn mower was in disrepair: a new one was promptly purchased and donated.
The work has now been completed and the renovated garden and benches are available for the safety and enjoyment of the people working at the Warren County Workshop.
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