Philadelphia Firms, Bayer Deliver Pest Management Services Needy Families

The Maxforce on a Mission program is a campaign in which Bayer and pest management professionals (PMPs) are teaming up with charitable organizations to help rid underserved communities of allergen- and disease-carrying pests. The first community service project took place in Jacksonville, Fla., in August. The program moved to Philadelphia in September where Joe Silvestrini, president, Pest Control Technicians, Norristown, Pa., and Jim Nase, service manager, Moyer Indoor | Outdoor Pest Control, Souderton, Pa., got involved.

Silvestrini, Nase and Bayer worked with Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, an organization that provides critical home repairs, modifications and improvements for Philly’s low-income homeowners. The group selected a duplex-style home that shared a common wall. During a pretreatment visit, the PMPs found there was more to treat than they originally expected: One side was overrun with German cockroaches, and to their surprise, there were house mice on the other.

“We thought the problem would be the same,” Nase says.

Of course, it doesn’t matter what pests the home had, Silvestrini and Nase made sure the right tools were in place to get the job done. Bayer donated the product needed to take care of the cockroaches, but the pest management companies provided snap traps, glue boards and even did some exclusion work to treat for the mice.

“I was happy to get involved,” Silvestrini says. “It was a good thing for my company to be involved with. We had two technicians from each company. The homes we treated were pretty small.”
As with most pest issues, the team realized the problem would not be solved with a single visit.
“We wanted to make sure we were going to solve the problem,” says Nase. “We didn’t want to go in and do a one-time thing.”

Giving back is nothing new to either of these Philadelphia-area pest management companies. Both are involved in their communities and donate pest management services in and around the city.

They typify a big reason why Bayer created the Maxforce on a Mission program: to remind the public that PMPs do more than just kill pests.

“Pest management professionals serve a critical and often undervalued role in preserving public health in communities,” says Ray Daniels, product marketing manager for Bayer’s Professional Pest Management Business. “It is our goal to raise public awareness of the societal value of professional pest management, and inspire other PMPs to reinforce this value through giving back where they can in their own communities.

“The nonprofit organizations we’re working with are deeply invested in their local communities, and we want to assist them in providing the best possible circumstances for the individuals they serve,” Daniels adds.

Nase agrees PMPs should do what they can to give back.

“I think most companies would like to get involved,” he says. “Most companies, if they have the opportunity, would be willing to do it.”

With that in mind, Bayer is offering other pest management companies the opportunity to give back to their communities in upcoming months. The Maxforce on a Mission program will continue in other cities around the country.

PMPs and other organizations are encouraged to learn more about Maxforce on a Mission and how to get involved through the campaign website, maxforceonamission.com.

“We are so grateful for the opportunity to have partnered with Moyer, Pest Control Technicians and Rebuilding Together Philadelphia for this treatment to truly provide the homeowners with the care and service they needed,” Daniels says.

Dan Jacobs is a contributor to PMP. Contact him at jacobs3927@sbcglobal.net.