Project EverGreen helped renovate a damaged football field in Hazlet, New Jersey.Photo: Project EverGreen
Project EverGreen’s Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids. initiative was able to lend a hand renovating some athletic fields in Hazlet, New Jersey, that fell victim to extreme weather.
The Hazlet Hawks football field was re-opened in 2016 for the first time in 10 years, but an uncommonly hot summer and fall coupled with heavy rainfall resulted in dead grass and erosion damage.
The restoration of the 100,000 square feet of playing surface is estimated to be worth more than $20,000 after the donations of expertise, materials and labor.
Hazlet-based LidoChem donated athletic turfgrass seed mix and its organic NutriSmart-B soil inoculant, and some of its employees also contributed their time to work on the project.
“We’re proud to partner with Project EverGreen on this initiative to restore our own hometown Hazlet Hawks youth athletic field for our kids,” said Don Pucillo, president of LidoChem Inc. “We’re especially pleased to contribute earth-friendly and kid-safe products to produce an athletic field that is a healthy green space where our children can play sports and just be kids.”
The project consisted of aeration, reseeding and topsoil applications to repair runoff around low spots. Organic soil amendments and fertilizers were also applied.
Natural Green Lawn Care, based in Bridgewater, New Jersey, provided both the equipment and labor needed to aerate the soil and apply the turfgrass seed mix, organic materials and topsoil.
The company also paid for and delivered 20 tons of topsoil. The finished field provides more than 1,000 football players, cheer squads, their parents, and coaches with a safe, sustainable green space to play.
