Saugus students provide free landscaping for senior citizens through "Seniors helping seniors"

Seniors at Saugus High School provided free landscaping and clean-up services for local senior citizens through the "Seniors helping seniors" program. 

Saugus High School senior Joseph Mastrocola and his friends spent Saturday morning sprucing up the yards for two senior Saugus, Massachusetts, residents. 

The homes were picked from a lottery at the Saugus Senior Center. Marcia Pollack was thrilled to be one of the two selected. 

"I wasn't going to be able to do this. My husband's in rehab right now. He had some surgeries and so he couldn't do it, so nothing was going to happen. So this is just wonderful for us," Pollack said. 

It was a real hands-on experience. The students picked up leaves, dug up old plants, put in new mulch and planted festive fall mums around the yards. 

"I'm thinking, OK it's kids, you know, if we could get the shrubs trimmed a little and just be cleaned up, I'd be happy. That would be great, but they're doing so much more," Pollack said. 

The students and the Saugus Senior Center partnered with local landscaper WIN Waste Innovations to make the program possible. 

"Trying to instill some of those values in the seniors as they start to move on and then they can give back to those who have been part of the community for a long time now," WIN Waste Innovations Plant Manager Elliott Casey said. 

And all the hard work paid off at both seniors' homes. 

"He felt very happy he started crying. He really enjoyed us helping out because he couldn't do it for the past three years, so it was really good," Mastrocola said of the other senior chosen. 

This was the first year of the program, but both sets of seniors hope it will continue on.