The ARA Foundation Completes Impact Project and Donates $20,000 to the Youth Crisis Center in Jacksonville, Fla.
The American Rental Association (ARA) Foundation and The Toro Company Foundation donated equipment and volunteers to clean up and transform the seven-acre property of the Youth Crisis Center (YCC) in Jacksonville, Fla., on April 30th. YCC provides a variety of services for children, adolescents, young adults, parents and families since 1974. Their emphasis on care is for those who have been exposed to traumatic situations such as divorce, homelessness, relocation, loss of life, bullying and abuse.
This is just one of the many ARA Foundation Community Impact Programs that take place across the country to improve communities in which ARA members live.
Volunteers and equipment from The Toro Company, Ditch Witch, Ditch Witch of Florida, All About Events, Sunshine Event Rentals, LLC, Jamco Equipment Rental, Marketing Concepts, Rentalex (Tampa), Elite Events Rentals, Do It Yourself Inc., K.W.I. Grand Rental, Parker Sales & Marketing, CVS Marketing/McGovern Associates and Ames, and H&E Rentals joined forces to install a drainage trench, remove shrubs, and plant a variety of foliage to beautify the landscape of this large property.
Pete Hicks, chief development officer at Youth Crisis Center, said, “We are greatly appreciative of this project. Beautification of our shelter helps with the therapeutic care we are able to offer youths and families. We have a lot of kids that come here to get help and when they see a welcoming place it really makes an impact. ARA has done a tremendous job negotiating our seven acres of property to create this beautiful landscape and it really helps our organization so that we can spend more funds directly serving the kids.”
In addition to the work done on the property, The ARA Foundation donated a $20,000 grant to Youth Crisis Center to support the expenses associated with the project.
Cathy Hurst, Youth Crisis Center board member, said, “Volunteers have come from all over the country for this wonderful project today. There are people everywhere. You can hear the machines behind me as they get started. They are moving rocks and mulch. There are over 600 plants and trees being used to beautify the YCC property. We have young people that come here for therapy. There are residents that live here. It’s just incredible the work that they do here and I’m honored to be on their board and be a part of this activity today.”
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.