Tired of just talking about the link between public health and the environment, Argus Group employees are taking matters into their own hands, by adopting two Bermuda parks.

“We are basically adopting the two lighthouse parks, Gibbs Hill and St. David’s,” said Joy Pimentel, executive vice president of marketing. “Our theme has been giving back to the community. We have been very aware and concerned about the health of our community. So it makes sense to be concerned and involved with the health of our environment.”

Gerald Simons, president and chief executive officer of the Argus Group said the Argus Group is committed to ensuring that the legacy of these landmarks be preserved for the benefit of future generations.

Argus recently teamed up with Keep Bermuda Beautiful (KBB) and the Bermuda Parks Department and created two work groups of about a dozen people each. KBB provided Argus employees with gloves to use on the project.

“We commend the Argus Group for taking proactive steps to help protect and maintain two of our national parks,” said Susan Harvey, executive director of KBB.

“In keeping with our mission to promote and protect the physical environment through education and awareness, the Argus Group is demonstrating a shared dedication to the cause.”

Last Thursday Argus started with a clean-up of Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Park because their company logo is essentially Gibbs Hill Lighthouse.

“The main thing we did at Gibbs Hill was officially present a bench to the park,” said Mrs. Pimentel. “We also planted a cedar tree. Even though Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Park is well maintained, we were able to provide the bench which will be used by locals and visitors alike. Even though it is well maintained, there is always some debris lying around. There was a bit of debris we helped to pick up. There are trails in the area that do need help.”

Because there wasn’t a lot of garbage strewn around at Gibbs Hill, the work group there continued on to nearby Church Bay Park. Tomorrow another group will work at St. David’s Lighthouse Park.

“That is bigger and needs a lot more help,” said Mrs. Pimentel. “It is quite an extensive area. One of the things that will help that area is endemic plants. We will do some planting next Thursday. This is the beginning of the work parties. We anticipate we will be doing is some painting down there as well.”

Argus is giving its employees half a day off a year to help out with the clean-out projects. Those that didn’t get to help out this week, will have opportunities to help out later in the year. “We just feel it is important to give back to the community,” said Mrs. Pimentel. “Last January, we spent a half a day at Admiralty House Park. Again it was in pretty good condition, but we did quite a bit of planting. The beauty of that was we had about 38 employees and their families helping.”

Argus hopes that other companies consider doing something similar.

“We think the environment is important, especially for future generations,” said Mrs. Pimentel.

She said the employees loved the new environmental clean-up programme, and they enjoyed seeing that their company is doing something positive in the community.

“They are enjoying giving back,” she said. “It is also nice to be out of the office and working with people you don’t necessarily work with on a day to day basis. I think people generally seem to be pleased that we are doing this for the community. We do quite a bit in the community, although a lot is low key.”

Martin Duncan, acting senior superintendent from the department of parks said he pleased to see local businesses taking a part in the maintenance of Bermuda’s parks.

“It is encouraging to see a prominent member of the local business community, like the Argus Group, take such an active and long-term role in the preservation and maintenance of our precious park land,” Mr. Duncan said. “We look forward to an ongoing partnership with Argus Group as we work toward improving our local environment.”