Peoples Natural Gas donates money, time for upkeep of Prospect Cemetery

A partnership with Peoples Natural Gas has landed Prospect Cemetery with money to help buy a new mowing tractor to maintain the 13-acre site.

“This was a great help to us,” said Cindy Homburg, president of the historic Brackenridge cemetery. “We work very hard to keep Prospect looking good and take great pride in our cemetery.”

Prospect Cemetery sits on a hill on Freeport Road, a block from the Tarentum line.

It was established in 1863 and was the first public cemetery in the area. It has grown to include 13,000 graves and boasts a list of prominent people who made it their final resting place. Those who were among the first people to be buried there were Civil War soldiers.

Henry Marie Brackenridge, the founder of Tarentum and for whom Brackenridge is named, donated the land. He died in 1871 and is buried there, along with the borough’s first mayor, John Long, and several other legislators, school leaders and notables.

Bev Wogan, Peoples spokesperson, said the company began a project in 2016 called The Peoples Eat Drink Help Program to help support local charities in the service area.

“It lets us partner with a local business and charity to build them up,” Wogan said.

“Whether it’s a cup of coffee or a pizza, when you make a purchase at one of these local businesses, Peoples makes a donation to a great charity,” she said.

The campaign got its start when the gas company teamed with Pennie’s Bake Shop & Espresso Bar in Butler. For every coffee purchased, Peoples donated 50 cents to the Victim Outreach Intervention Center of Butler County.

Positive feedback expanded the program into Beaver County, Pittsburgh and service areas out of the state.

Locally, Peoples partnered with Prospect Cemetery and Phillippi’s Family Dining in Harrison for the effort.

When 1,000 takeout orders were purchased from the local restaurant and bar, Peoples donated $1,000 to the cemetery.

This isn’t the first time Peoples and Prospect have paired up.

Employees of the gas company have been donating their time to help maintain the site each spring for about five years.

A crew of 20 volunteers mow grass, pull weeds and do other chores to help keep the grounds pristine.

“It happens every year in May,” Homburg said. “They are there for about six hours cutting grass, trimming around tombstones and doing general maintenance.

“It’s a wonderful day.”