GOLDEN Employees Clean Up Local Community for Earth Day 2010

Golden Artist Colors' employees celebrated Earth Day 2010 by helping to clean up almost all 50 miles of roadsides in its town of Columbus, N.Y. GOLDEN, a company committed to supporting its local community, asked for employees to volunteer two hours of their time for this event. The company began Earth Day Clean Up in 2005 and each year, more and more staff has become involved. Of its 147 full-time employees, about 60% were able to participate in this year's event. Employees worked in pairs for the cleanup and the goal at the end of the day was to clean up nearly the entire 50 miles of the Town of Columbus maintained highway.

This year, Bert Adams Disposal supported the cleanup with a donation of a 20 yard roll-off container. This will be used to transport the debris to the landfill for disposal. To keep the event interesting, prizes were awarded for the heaviest bag and the most unique item found.

"The staff's enthusiasm and willingness to help out with this event has been wonderful," said Safety & Health Specialist, and event coordinator, Alysen Cornell. "It's for a great cause and our neighbors are very appreciative of our efforts as well!"

One of the benefits of being an employee at GOLDEN is that all full-time employees may use up to 40 hours of paid Community Service time per year. Earth Day Clean Up is one way this time can be used. If employees serve as a volunteer for a fire association, police force or emergency squad, they have access to 80 hours per year of Community Service time.

"What a great day to be an employee owner!" said Customer Service Representative, Jonie Bassett. "We spent the afternoon making the roads of Columbus even more beautiful. The camaraderie in the sunshine is unmatchable."

"It's important for us all to share our gifts of time, commitment and care to our neighbors," said GOLDEN CEO, Mark Golden. "When many people get together, small contributions can truly be meaningful. Employee owners here at GOLDEN have committed to a legacy that doing good is good for business. It's one more way to support our small community."