A Tradition of Service: How Melaleuca Team Members Enhance Lives Beyond the Workplace

Four years ago, hundreds of Melaleuca Team Members gathered along the Idaho Falls River Walk with a simple goal: help beautify one of the city’s most treasured public spaces.

What began as a single community service project has grown into an annual tradition. Every year, Team Members volunteer together to strengthen the communities where they live and work, putting Melaleuca’s mission of enhancing lives into action.

This year, Melaleuca Team Members completed the company’s fourth consecutive River Walk cleanup in Idaho Falls, while another group carried on the tradition at Eagle Park in Rexburg. Together, the two projects demonstrated Melaleuca’s enduring commitment to serving the communities that have supported the company for four decades.

A Partnership That Continues to Grow

Over the past four years, the annual River Walk cleanup has grown into a partnership the City of Idaho Falls now counts on each year.

“Having approximately 200 people come together and tackle projects across more than two miles of the River Walk is incredible,” said Idaho Falls Parks and Recreation Director P.J. Holm. “The amount of work your team can accomplish in just a couple of hours would take our staff a significant amount of time and resources to complete on our own.”

He also expressed appreciation for the partnership Melaleuca has built with the city.

“We truly appreciate the partnership. Beyond the work itself, I really appreciate that Melaleuca continues to invest its time and people into making Idaho Falls a better place.”

This year’s cleanup once again transformed the River Walk. Working in seven teams, Melaleuca Team Members filled four 30-yard dumpsters and completed approximately 12 trailer and dump truck loads, removing an estimated 200 cubic yards of willow branches, dead wood, and debris from the River Walk. In just a few hours, volunteers opened views of the Snake River, improved access along the pathways, and helped make one of eastern Idaho’s most treasured public spaces even more welcoming for the thousands of people who enjoy it each year.

In his interview with Local News 8, Holm estimated Melaleuca Team Members accomplished the equivalent of nearly 20 days of work in a single afternoon.

Melaleuca’s commitment to the River Walk extends beyond a single day of service.

For years, the company and its Team Members have also supported the Idaho Falls Rotary Club’s Great Snake River Duck Race, which raises funds for the cleanup, enhancement, and expansion of the Idaho Falls River Walk. Through the Melaleuca Foundation and Team Member participation, more than $70,000 has been donated to support improvements.

Expanding the Tradition

Earlier that week, 33 Team Members from Melaleuca’s Rexburg call center and manufacturing facility gathered at Eagle Park to remove trash and debris from one of the community’s favorite outdoor spaces. In two hours, volunteers collected 27 large bags of trash and 100 pounds of scrap metal.

Participation increased by more than 50 percent compared to last year’s project. The growing participation reflects how this tradition of service continues to gain momentum among Team Members.

A City of Rexburg employee thanked the volunteers for their efficiency, thoroughness, and positive attitudes before telling the group how much Eagle Park means to local residents and how projects like Melaleuca’s make a lasting difference for the community.

Living the Mission

For Melaleuca, these projects are about much more than cleaning parks or clearing brush.

They give Team Members an opportunity to work together outside their normal responsibilities while giving back to the communities they proudly call home. Whether restoring the Idaho Falls River Walk or helping beautify Eagle Park, volunteers invest their time and talents in places that families, neighbors, and visitors enjoy every day.

As Chief Human Resources Officer Jamie Reynolds wrote to Team Members after the project, the afternoon was filled with “hard work, sweat, laughter and teamwork.” She thanked Team Members for living Melaleuca’s mission of enhancing lives, saying their efforts benefited not only the Parks & Recreation team but also the tens of thousands of people who enjoy the River Walk each year.

A Lasting Tradition

With another successful year in the books, the River Walk cleanup has become more than an annual volunteer event. Along with the growing Eagle Park project in Rexburg and the company’s ongoing support of the Great Snake River Duck Race, they reflect a long-term commitment to strengthening the communities where Team Members live and work.

For local leaders, the impact is measured in cleaner parks, healthier public spaces, and stronger community partnerships. For Melaleuca Team Members, it’s another opportunity to put the company’s mission into action by serving their neighbors together.

It’s a tradition that continues to strengthen communities while reminding Team Members that enhancing lives isn’t just Melaleuca’s mission. It’s something they have the opportunity to do together every year.