Volunteers from Abbott Laboratories helped make way for the ducks at Busy Bee Children’s Center in Waukegan.
Louise Herberger’s kindergarten duck project was adopted by 15 biochemists from Abbott’s Advanced Technology Group, who spent Friday expanding the center’s duck pond and building a footbridge.
“It’s nice working with real subjects and doing something outside of our windowless labs,” said Jean Severin, an Abbott biochemist.
The Busy Bee Children’s Center offers day care to 140 infants and children. It is run by Central Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services, a not-for-profit child welfare agency that has been serving the area for more than 100 years.
The chemists were matched to Busy Bee as part of the United Way’s 365 Days of Caring Campaign. They spent the day digging, building and landscaping around the small pond on the center grounds.
The volunteers did a team-building exercise, while the children got a new educational site. When they were done, the two resident mallards, Speckles and Brownie, got a new habitat.
“What Abbott is going to do is turn our little area into an outdoor education center,” said Herberger, who has taught at Busy Bee for 9 years. “There is no way we could do it without their help.”
Herberger’s class helps hatch ducklings each spring, feeding them each morning and cleaning up the area.