“Anytime we have a service group that comes from the community, I feel like they take a little more ownership in the park. They feel like it’s their park,” says Bruce Cox, parks director for the Centerville City Parks and Cemetery Department.

MTC facilities and Job Corps centers around the country have engaged in numerous activities to improve their environment as part of MTC’s “Better Together” initiative. In addition to other projects, they show gratitude for their community.

“We are here at the Centerville community park, and we have our whole corporate team on grounds today,” says MTC President Dan Marquardt. “We had a little bit of a lunch and a celebration to celebrate the fact that we’re here cleaning up the park and helping out in our community. This is an exciting project and a great opportunity to get everybody outside and saying thank you, giving back, to a place that many of us enjoy.”

With nearly 100 helping hands on site, MTC corporate staff were able to assist park staff prepare for a large community event.

“It usually takes our crews about a week to clean up all the trees and do nice tree rings and mulch around every tree and your volunteer group, in probably less than 30 minutes, probably got about a third of the park done,” explains Bruce. “There was a mountain of mulch that all disappeared with all your help with buckets and shovels and wheelbarrows and lots of helping hands.”

MTC staff enjoyed the opportunity to get outside and give back to the Centerville community.

“It’s awesome to know that the company I work for is making the world a better place,” says Caleb Peterson, manager, of MTC’s contract administration department. “I actually used to practice soccer at this park all the time, so it’s kind of cool to create that opportunity for other young kids in the community and making the community a better place.”

Serving others plays an important role in MTC’s mission of being a leader in social impact.

“We’re grateful at MTC to have a really far reach as an organization,” says Dan Marquardt. “There are many communities that we are a part of, an integral part of we’d like to think, but it’s where MTC began and its roots are here in Northern Utah and Davis and Weber Counties, and so being able to pull our group together and contribute and give back to our immediate, local, historical roots is a great opportunity, so we’re excited to be doing it.”