Toro and ARA Complete Landscape Project and Donate $20,000 to Bolder Options in Minneapolis
The American Rental Association Foundation and The Toro Company Foundation donated equipment, volunteers and a $20,000 grant to provide new above-ground garden boxes, install new fencing and landscape improvements to Bolder Options in Minneapolis on July 29. Collaborators from The Toro Company, Ditch Witch of Minnesota and Iowa, Crown Rental, The Danny Gans Co., TVH Parts Co., Broadway Equipment, A1 Rent It, Load’Em up Trailers, Epic Event Rental and Summit Supply joined forces to revitalize the landscape and property of Bolder Options.
The Bolder Options organization was founded in 1993, in response to a pressing need for mentoring programs in the Twin Cities. They provide wellness-based mentoring for middle school youth, aged 10 - 14 years old. Youth who need support are matched with volunteer mentors who meet with them every week for a year.
The local team, Crown Rental and the Toro Siteworks Division spent two days on-site prior to the main project date, removing garden beds, soil and old fencing. They also pre-built above-ground garden beds, dug holes and installed new fence posts making the property ready for landscape improvements.
On the day of the project, more than 32 volunteers worked together to transform the outdoor space for Bolder Options. Volunteers installed 30 8-foot fence panels, two gates, 80 feet of black plastic edging and landscape fabric. They also laid 44 yards of mulch, removed aging fencing, and cleared more than 40 yards of landscape debris.
The team ground large tree stumps, removed 20-year-old trees, bushes and weeds, and added new plants. Volunteers pressure washed the driveway, cleaned the surrounding wall area, and assembled two Adirondack chairs to complete the refreshed outdoor environment.
Darrell Thompson, president of Bolder Options, worked alongside the team of volunteers and is amazed by the transformation. “I can’t even say enough about the effort that was put forth today,” he said. “The heroic face-lift to the building, being able to see the building, feel safer in the building. We know what kind of investment it took to make this project happen, from the equipment to the manpower. It looks wonderful and we are very grateful.”
The Bolder Options project is one of many ARA Foundation Community Impact Projects that take place across the United States to improve communities in which ARA members live.
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.