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Program cuts troops' burden

A group of volunteers mows the extra yard to help military families.

By TIFFANI SHERMAN
Published December 26, 2006

It comes with living in Florida, where the warm weather makes the yard grow year-round and there's mowing to do even in the winter.

For the Chaput family in Clearwater, figuring out who was going to mow the lawn when military deployment orders came in was just one more thing to worry about.

"My husband knew he was deploying and I was freaking out about taking care of the lawn," said Kristina Chaput, 35.

Her husband, Wayne, has been with the Army National Guard in Germany since October. With her full-time job at Tech Data, three dogs, a cat, and a 4-year-old son, Steven, she has little time for household chores, especially her husband's.

Chaput also has allergies, nerve damage in her hand and no extra money sitting around to pay for a lawn service.

"The only time I'd have to (mow the lawn) would be Saturday or Sunday, and that's the time I spend with my son," Chaput said. "If I'm out mowing the lawn, what's he doing?"

Before he left, Wayne Chaput searched for someone to help his wife with the little things. While on the Internet, he found Project Evergreen's GreenCare for Troops program. The nonprofit organization based in New Prague, Minn., matches lawn care providers with families who need help around the yard while a loved one is deployed.

"Right now, I have 2,344 military families signed up for the program," said Joy Westenberg, manager of GreenCare for Troops. Since the first people signed up in July, more than 550 professional lawn contractors have volunteered their services.

"I talk to military spouses about every day, and people do not realize how this one little itty-bitty thing that we can do eases a burden for them," Westenberg said.

So now it's up to 51-year-old Nick Colton to worry about the Chaputs' lawn.

The owner of Nick Colton Lawn Care has been taking care of the lawn since just before Chaput left to go overseas.

"I was in the military," Colton said. "It's just my way of helping out a little bit."

GreenCare for Troops matched the Chaput family with Colton. It took a while to find a lawn contractor willing to help out.

"We were relieved, one more thing that I didn't have to worry about," Kristina Chaput said. "It's nice to know it's taken care of."

All of the contractors volunteer their services. GreenCare for Troops is always looking for new companies, and is expanding to include citizen volunteers. Many of the volunteers are retired military, like Colton, who served in the Air Force.

"The Lord's been good to me, and they say if you give, you get things back tenfold," Colton said. "It's giving back to our community a little bit."

Instead of mowing it, the Chaputs can enjoy their back yard.

"We have a lot of people come over and play," Kristina Chaput said. Neighborhood kids play on the swing set, in the fort, on the slide and on the grass, helping to entertain her son.

"It keeps his mind off of his daddy being gone," she said.

[Last modified December 26, 2006, 06:06:02]