Grand Circle’s Russia team leads effort to clean up local park
In addition to supporting educational and cultural institutions through Grand Circle Foundation, we proudly give back to the world we travel by volunteering for community service events here in Boston—and abroad. Throughout the year, hundreds of Grand Circle associates happily devote their time and energy to helping others in the countries they call home. Most recently, our Russia team organized a community clean-up at a popular Moscow park.
As Natalia Janjic, Regional General Manager for Russia, explains, “The park is located in a remote area of the city and has a unique old mansion which is now being restored, as well as a lovely pond with ducks. Since it’s so big, the local authorities can’t give the entire area their full attention, so there was plenty for us to do there.”
The team worked overtime in the office from Monday through Thursday in order to spend the entire day at the park on Friday. “We took our brooms, rakes, plastic bags, and some snacks and headed for the park,” Natalia says. “The weather was not very welcoming, as it was drizzling when we arrived—even the ducks in the pond were trying to hide under the trees!”
Undaunted, if a little damp, “We split our ‘clean team’ into smaller broom, rake, and black bag groups, which made us work faster and better. People in the park were very surprised when they saw us and found out why we were there, but all of them were positive and thankful for what we were doing!”
Natalia admits, “When we turned to clean the children’s playgrounds, we were a bit concerned there wasn’t enough plastic bags for all the leaves and garbage.” However, “we didn’t give up and cheerfully cleaned up the playgrounds, working in our mini-teams and having fun! By this time the sky cleared up, and the curious squirrels and pigeons came to check on us. We shared our snacks with them and had a short and lovely picnic on one of the park benches.”
Overall, she says, “We enjoyed this day very much. It was a great experience for us all; it brought an unbeatable feeling of being useful for the world around us.”
Have you had a memorable experience at a Grand Circle Foundation site? We’re currently collecting stories to appear on a brand-new Foundation website, and we’d love to hear from you. Please email your stories, photos (in .jpeg format, please) and videos to harriet@gct.com.