For the third year in a row the weather was perfect for their annual Giving Back Day on September 15. Futurecom partnered with the Living City Foundation and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) to clean-up and maintain the pollinator gardens at Heart Lake Conservation Area.  Heart Lake Conservation Area opened in 1957 and is named after the spring-fed kettle lake which is roughly heart shaped. Located within the Etobicoke Creek watershed, the park is approximately 169 hectares (.65 square miles) in size and is a popular destination for residents of Peel Region.

Before all the hard work began, Futurecom team members were honored to participate in a welcome ceremony lead by aboriginal elders from the Mississauga of the New Credit first nation and the Four Colours Drum Circle. The welcoming took place at Gitigaan Mashkiki (Ojibwe for Medicine Wheel Garden), located on the grounds at Heart Lake.  The garden is a circle divided into four sections constructed using grandfather and grandmother stones and is oriented to reflect the cardinal points of the compass, which is spiritually significant.

After the ceremony, team members hiked along the banks of Heart Lake to the Pollinator Gardens and removed weeds and planted native wildflowers to provide additional habitat for the local pollinator species. They also restored bee habitats or bee condos. A healthy pollinator insect population is essential to a healthy environment.

After a hard day’s work, team members met back at the office for a catered lunch.