Boston Scientific in Valencia is well known for the products it builds for its Neuromodulation Division. The company develops, designs and manufactures pulse generators that are implantable in humans and are used to eliminate pain.

What most people probably don’t know is that the people Boston Scientific employs love to give back to their community.

Boston Scientific has a Green Team devoted to developing and completing community projects. Last weekend, the Green Team members came out to the Angeles National Forest to help the Community Hiking Club build and install a picnic table on a knoll overlooking the west end of the forest near Bear Divide. The donation was intended to commemorate 50 years of the 1964 Wilderness Act and the reopening of the Dagger Flat Trail.

The Green Team, under the direction of fearless leader Abram Opyan, purchased the table – which was made completely of recycled materials; put it together on site; and secured it to the platform that the Community Hiking Club built during the previous two weeks.

After it was built and secured, the team continued to clear an area that will be used for an emergency helipad for the Search and Rescue teams and fire fighters to drop personnel during fires in the Angeles National Forest. This is the second helipad we’ve built in the area to make rescue and firefighting more efficient.

Kudos are also due to Steve Iland, a board member of the Community Hiking Club and an employee at Boston Scientific, for working tirelessly to help plan this event for seven months. And last but not least, he cooked a delicious lunch for all of us so we could have an all-American picnic on the new table.

Steve is an amazing person with the Community Hiking Club, as well. He works to help us mentor at-risk kids and helps us on hikes and camping trips with the at-risk kids. He is an amazing problem solver and mentor.

It would be great to see other organizations on the ground, giving back to their community. I wholeheartedly thank Boston Scientific for its dedication to the environment and the community. It’s not often I can say, “What a great corporation.” It certainly is.

Many thanks to the Green Team for all of their hard work all over the world, and especially in our community.

Other local events that the Green Team has participated in include:

1. Rideshare 2013: This was an internal event encouraging employees to rideshare and showcasing the rideshare program.

2. City of Santa Clarita River Rally 2013: Boston Scientific had a big turnout of employees and family members to clean the Santa Clara River.

3. Recycling 2014: This was an internal event where they showcased their recycling program and encouraged employees to recycle.

4. Dagger Flat 2014: Purchase, assembly and installation of picnic table and clearing area for new helipad.

Click here for all of the Boston Scientific Green Team events around world.

Click here to see the Environment and Sustainability page, which has a wealth of information, including Boston Scientific’s annual Sustainability report.

Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel is executive director of the Community Hiking Club and president of the Santa Clara River Watershed Conservancy. If you’d like to be part of the solution, join the Community Hiking Club’s Stewardship Committee. Contact Dianne through communityhikingclub.org or at zuliebear@aol.com.