Community Involvement
Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes is a dedicated neighbor to the North Country. As such, the company and its employees support various local organizations and causes such as: 
- Chambers of Commerce
- Rotary
- Jaycees
- Salvation Army
- United Way
- Local military service association chapters (AUSA, FDRLO etc.)
- Other non-profit and charitable organizations
4-H Camp Wabasso (2009)
More than 30 Actus Lend Lease and Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes employees and their families volunteered their time to support the local 4-H Camp Wabasso. Using funds from Actus Community Fund, Actus Foundation and donations of materials and labor from several local businesses, 4-H Camp Wabasso received a makeover. Volunteers screened and stained camper cabins, four cabins were scraped and re-roofed, new slider windows were installed in a counselor cabin and, the most exciting part of this project, the team construction an 8ft. by 12ft. climbing wall. The majority of work occurred on a single Saturday where staff volunteered their time and talents to stain, screen and build. In all, the work completed is valued at more than $5,000, however, the experience future campers will have at the new and improved summer camp is priceless!
Fort Drum / Samaritan Behavioral Health Clinic (2008)
Actus Lend Lease and Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes, proudly renovated the Fort Drum / Samaritan Behavioral Health Clinic in Watertown. The clinic provides services for assessment, diagnosis and treatment of behavioral health conditions to active duty Soldiers. Through a grant from the Actus Community Fund, employees from Actus Lend Lease, Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes and local businesses volunteered to revamp the reception area to help create a comfortable, warm atmosphere to facilitate the healing process. The renovations, valued at more than $25,000, are aimed to set the stage for honest, open dialogue between patients and the professionals who care for them.
“Actus has a long-standing reputation of serving Soldiers, Families and the communities in which it operates. As Soldiers receive the professional care in a nurturing setting conducive to healing, hope is reborn, making stronger Soldiers, Families, communities, Army and nation,“ states Joseph E. McLaughlin, Project Director, Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes.
Actus and Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes employees volunteered their time and skills including carpentry, electrical, painting, masonry and landscaping to complete the renovations. Several local businesses joined in the effort by donating products and services. Major partners include Lakeview Lawn and Landscaping Inc., Sherwin Williams of
See Press Release
Habitat for Humanity (2007)
Actus and Mountain Community Homes constructed and dontated two homes to The Thousand Islands Area Habitat for Humanity. Valued at $200,000 each, the homes were built through the assistance of the subcontractors working on the Fort Drum project.
See Press Release
Operation Mountain Lamb (2006)
Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes volunteered to coordinate a humanitarian drive to support the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan. Operation Mountain Lamb becsame a massive community program that shipped more than 23,000 lbs of donations of clothing, toys, school supplies and shoes to needy Afghan people. The campaign raised $10,000 in donations and is recognized nationally for the efforts with a Telly Award.
Community Day
Community Day is Actus Lend Lease’s longest-running and most popular Lend Lease Foundation program, which began in 1995. Through this program, Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes and Actus Lend Lease employees around the world are invited to take time out to volunteer in their community.
To date, it is estimated our people have volunteered more than 120,000 hours of their time to community initiatives. Often we bring our construction knowledge to help build community gardens, kindergarten cubbies though we also offer to help simply paint or tidy community facilities. Beneficiaries typically include socially or economically deprived groups aged citizens, children, the homeless and people with disabilities.
Community Day has enabled us to develop strong relationships with the community groups we support (chosen by our people), many of whom now specifically plan tasks with our help in mind. In addition to community giving, we have found the day to be a great opportunity for camaraderie and team building within Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes. Every year, around 4,000 Lend Lease employees from 18 countries give their time to more than 200 Community Day projects. Over the last 10 years, that equates to about 140,000 hours.
