TAMPA, Fla. — A Bay area landscaper is combining his passion for the profession with projects to help a good cause. Drake Mailhot is getting fellow landscaping businesses involved with good deeds.
Mailhot has a couple of crews that work on higher end landscaping projects. He says he tries to be creative with his projects and very particular with the details. He loves it so much, the work doesn’t feel like work.
“It’s not work. It’s what I do. Create beautiful outdoor spaces,” he said.
A couple of years ago, Mailhot helped start a professional organization for landscapers so they could be a resource to each other. The group grew quickly to more than a hundred businesses. “By working together, I could learn from them and they could learn from me.”
Mailhot and the other businesses in the group got inspired to do landscaping for good causes. They recently completed a garden for the staff and families that come to Pasco Kids First in New Port Richey. The child advocacy organization helps to investigate child abuse claims and provides therapy to victims.
Mailhot and other businesses that helped with the project were at a ribbon cutting for the garden last week. Staff members at Pasco Kids First say some of the children receiving therapy prefer to do it in the garden instead of being inside the building.
Mailhot got inspired to help with the project after taking a tour of Pasco Kids First and seeing t-shirts with inspirational messages on a hallway wall. The t-shirts were made by children who have completed therapy to be a source of encouragement to other children.
“Sorry if I tear up. This has become so much more than a place of landscaping,” said Mailhot. “It’s become a garden for kids to heal themselves.”
Here is a list of the businesses that helped with the garden project:
- Professionals of Tampa
- Southern Landscape Solutions
- Sure Shot Property Enhancements
- Aloha Landscaping and Services
- Stonecrest Curbing
- Dirty Work Landscaping
- High Trim Tree Service
- Canterbury Farms Nursery
- Southern Outdoor Solutions
- Average Joe Landscape
- Rueds Property Maintenance
- GB Grow Lawn and Landscape
- Bay Area Pressure Cleaning
- Monica Mae Photography
Rick Elmhorst
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