Morristown Healthcare Heroes Honored Through Shrubbery

MORRISTOWN, NJ – Outdoor Digs, a Morris County based landscaping and design firm, decided to honor the front line heroes who have sacrificed so much to battle the COVID-19 pandemic with an uplifting floral display.

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At St. Barnabas in Livingston and Morristown Medical Center the company donated thousands of flowers and created landscape displays with the word ‘Heroes’ utilizing flowers and shrubs. The displays are prominently and purposefully placed outside the facility so that the frontline workers see them as they drive into the hospitals every day for work.

“The word hero is often thrown around very loosely,” said Jared Kocaj, owner of Outdoor Digs. “But there are real and true heroes within these walls. The frontline workers include not just the nurses and doctors and technicians but also the administrative and support staff. They risk so much to come here every day and save lives and give the gift of health. We wanted to do something so that every day when they came to work they would be reminded their sacrifice is not only known but also appreciated.”

The two displays at St. Barnabas and Atlantic Health were done with the approval of each medical facility.

Flowers and plants and fresh, green grass are not just pretty and decorative but they can actually help to improve mental health, Kocaj said. Studies show that simply having flowers around can make people feel more calm and centered and that hospital patients tend to feel less stressed with flowers in the room, he said.

Kocaj is a second-generation landscaper and arborist who has lived in Morris County his entire life. This display was especially meaningful for him.

“To know and see the long hours that the staffs are putting in to fight this pandemic is encouraging,” Kocaj said. “As a small business, we’ve been hurt by the coronavirus shutdown and what it has done to the economy. But we can’t help but see the good in people who are giving so much – and risking so much. They truly are heroes, not just today but every day.”

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