buildOn Helps Yankee Stadium Go Green!

[pullquote]It’s been one of the students’ favorite activities for the entire year.[/pullquote]

buildOn’s afterschool programs in the Bronx have partnered up with none other than the Yankees to turn one of the United States’ most famous franchises “green”! Since the start of spring, a group of buildOn students has attended every homegame at Yankee Stadium, where they spend the first four innings cleaning up, recycling, and composting waste. They also provide brief tutorials to fans about proper disposal of recyclable and biodegradable products, and how they can do their part to keep the stadium eco-friendly. For the remaining five innings, the buildOn students get to watch the game from reserved Green Team seats.

buildOn Program Director Missy Shields describes the partnership as a “great on-going service opportunity. It’s been one of the students’ favorite activities for the entire year. We’ve had about 50 different volunteers from our high school programs so far.” In addition to teaching the students about how to remain environmentally friendly in urban settings, Shields also notes that the project has helped to spread awareness of buildOn. During several games, the students have been interviewed on Yankee Stadium’s jumbo screen, and Shields has been approached by fans afterward each time. “I ran into a former buildOn staffer of ours at one game,” she notes. “It’s great to be able to make those kinds of connections from this project.”

Stay tuned for more news as buildOn’s Green Team helps to make Yankee Stadium environmentally friendly!