Building strong communities is hard work and one of the most important things we do. We're dedicated to helping our communities be more vibrant places to live, work, and play, and hope to earn their support by being involved and concerned corporate citizens.
Our community involvement draws on the unique talents of our employees as well as the resources of our business. Through community giving, in-kind donations, partnerships and volunteering, we demonstrate our commitment to programs that address community-specific needs.
As a company, we work with a number of community-based partners throughout our service areas to positively impact the overall quality of life where our employees and neighbors live and work. It takes more than a one-time grant or volunteer effort to make a lasting difference, so we seek out and support organizations that understand how to best meet the needs of the community.
Whether it's news you need to know – things like financial assistance programs – or the news you want to know - like programs benefitting the community or environment – our new and improved newsroom is the place to go! Beginning in 2024, all new information will be posted in the new newsroom.
Click the link below to check it out.
We ensure our customers have clean drinking water every day and New York Water employees recently donated time to make sure that our local waters remain clean as well. A team of Liberty volunteers spent the day with Operation Splash in Freeport, where they boarded a boat to clean up the shores of our local beach communities. The team cleaned up litter in the sand and marshes and hauled away wood left on the beach after Superstorm Sandy, ensuring these items would not end up in the ocean or bay in the next storm
Learn more here.
Liberty New York Water, in partnership with the New York chapter of the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC), awarded nine scholarships to high achieving high school seniors pursuing a college degree in a field related to the water industry. Congratulations to the recipients!
Learn more here.
Members of New York Water’s newly formed Garden Club used Liberty Day hours to plant a sustainable garden in the center of Merrick, just a few blocks from our office. In a well-traveled spot, previously barren and not so beautiful, the team weeded, dug holes and planted sustainable plants to beautify the area and educate the community. Soon, the spot will contain QR codes, allowing residents to learn more about the plants and how they help our environment. Garden Club members will rotate caring for the garden, in partnership with the Merrick Chamber of Commerce who is responsible for maintaining that plot.
The garden requires less water than others and will take about three years to fully grow, but we are in this for the long haul and are grateful for our partnership with ReWild Long Island, a local organization that designed our garden and guided us throughout the process. The garden is filled with Yarrow “Strawberry Seduction” Cultivar, Deertongue, Moss Phlox “Emerald Blue” Cultivar and New York Ironweed.
Thank you to all of our dedicated volunteers who were not afraid to literally get their hands dirty to give back to one of the communities that we serve!
Liberty has partnered with Island Harvest Food Bank in Long Island to help ensure that no one in the local community goes hungry. Last week, employees volunteered to sort food collected during the recent Stamp Out Hunger food drive, where many employees also donated food. The team had fun working together to sort cans, bottles and boxes of non-perishable items. They did such a great job that we were asked to leave some sorting for the next group!
Kudos to the team for showing that Liberty cares for our communities.
April 26th was International Guide Dog Day and Sweeney, our Puppy with a Purpose® celebrated by attending a Guide Dog Foundation puppy training class with his fellow future guide dog friends. Training is one of his favorite things and seeing his furry friends is another, so it was a perfect day!
Learning to ignore distractions, walk with a loose leash, climb stairs slowly, sit, stay and “under” were all part of the lesson and Sweeney aced every subject!
In honor of International Guide Dog Day, the Guide Dog Foundation shared some statistics from the International Guide Dog Federation:
We are proud to be among the volunteers making a difference and proud of Sweeney for working hard so he can become one of those guide dogs changing someone’s life.
Sweeney is thankful for all of his Liberty friends who support his journey to become a guide dog!
Check out Sweeney and his friends on the news!
https://longisland.news12.com/volunteers-help-train-future-guide-dogs-in-huntington
Liberty New York Water employees collected toys for children in need this holiday season. Throughout December, employees donated new, unwrapped toys which were all delivered to the John Theissen Children’s Foundation in Wantagh, NY. This non-profit organization distributes the toys to children of families in need financially or those who may be in the hospital suffering from illnesses during the holidays. Either way, the toys will bring smiles to the faces of children and the New York Water team can smile knowing they made a difference.
Sweeney, Liberty’s Puppy with a Purpose®, has been training hard for his future career as an assistance dog. Liberty has partnered with the Guide Dog Foundation to raise this black Labrador puppy until he is ready for formal training. At seven months old, he is housebroken and knows many commands, including sit, stay, lay down, come, go to your place and more. Mastering these commands is important in order for him to be a successful assistance dog. Every week, Sweeney goes out into the community visiting grocery stores, boutiques, banks, medical facilities and anyplace that his puppy raiser goes. These outings are fun for him, but more importantly provide training on how to behave in public. Being in these facilities and around lots of people help him acclimate to sounds and other distractions. For example, Sweeney is taught in the grocery store to ignore any food droppings he finds on the floor. He hasn’t mastered this one yet, but he’s improving with every shopping trip.
As part of his Guide Dog Foundation training, Sweeney also attends classes twice monthly with his fellow puppies with a purpose, where distraction training is always a focus. Held at airports, schools, churches, grocery stores and other public places, Sweeney really has to concentrate to ignore the sights and sounds while surrounded by his puppy friends, who he also has to ignore during the class.
We are proud of his progress and think he has great potential to provide independence to a visually impaired individual one day.
New York Water employees came together to ensure that children in our territory were set up for success for the 2022-2023 school year. Empty boxes were filled to the brim with notebooks, crayons, lunch boxes and other items that will help children start the school year prepared to learn. Rosa Fernandez, engineering project manager, and Deirin Ramon, engineer II, delivered the supplies to Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence, NY.
Brent Hill, the center’s executive director, accepted the donation with much appreciation, expressing that families will come throughout the year looking for items their children need. Thank you to our generous New York Water employees and to Rosa and Deirin for taking time out of their day to deliver the supplies!
Students suggested not watering the lawn when it rains, turning the faucets off while brushing your teeth and taking shorter showers. “These are all excellent suggestions that will help conserve water and improve the environment,” said Chris Alario, President, Liberty NY Water. “I am confident these young conservationists and artists will share their suggestions and use their knowledge to make an impact in the future.”
All participants from across Long Island received certificates and reusable Liberty water bottles for their efforts.
