Thursday, October 1, 2026
Students at Harmony Heights Day School have a new place to learn, socialize and receive therapy outdoors after employees of Global Industrial, an industrial commercial supply company based in Port Washington, spent July 17 transforming the school’s East Norwich campus in a daylong volunteer project.
The effort, part of Global Industrial’s Partnerships with Purpose corporate stewardship program, included the installation of outdoor furniture, construction of a storage shed, upgrades to Harmony Heights’ art room, new maintenance equipment and other improvements designed to expand students’ therapeutic and educational opportunities.
School leaders said the project far exceeded their expectations. “Ever since I started here, my dream was to, like, have this outdoor space utilized a lot better,” Principal Tatiana Pejkovic said. “It was kind of just a vast empty area.”
The school had already begun improving the grounds, Pejkovic said, by renovating a garden area and using donated furniture, picnic blankets and seating pillows because larger improvements were beyond the school’s budget.
That changed when the school connected with Global Industrial executive Adina Storch several months ago.
“I told her my basic vision,” Pejkovic said. “I was looking for something simple, like just some benches and chairs, literally just to have the student be able to sit outside or maybe have a class outside or a therapy session. And then in speaking with her and walking around the school, it literally blew up.”
Global Industrial expanded the project after touring the campus and speaking with staff about additional needs. Pejkovic called the finished project “beyond our dreams.”
Harmony Heights, which has served students for 52 years, enrolls girls in grades eight through 12 from school districts stretching from New York City to eastern Long Island. The therapeutic school specializes in helping students experiencing depression, anxiety, trauma, PTSD, mood instability and school refusal through an integrated academic and clinical program.
Clinical Director Lori Neazer, who has worked at the school for 42 years, said that outdoor spaces are especially valuable for students’ mental health. “Being outside with nature, and just out here in the elements, is just a big relief and a break for these kids and staff,” Neazer said. “It’s very calming and peaceful, and they can do their deep breathing out here, and just be out here with nature, in such a relaxing kind of environment.”
Neazer said she also hoped the improvements would help attract more families to the school, which has an 80-student capacity but has recently been underenrolled. Administrators hope the enhanced campus and increased visibility will encourage more referrals from other districts and families.
“We have been the best kept-secret for 52 years,” she said. “[Global Industrial] has been unbelievable. This is like a dream come true. In the 42 years that I’ve been here, we have never had such a nice donation and a nice event like this.”
Harmony Heights Executive Director Dennis Garbo said the scope of Global’s donation surprised school leadership.
“We were extremely grateful, and quite frankly very surprised today,” Garbo said. “We didn’t know the magnitude of what was about to happen, and what Global has done for us. This donation is above and beyond our imagination or expectations.”
Elizabeth Wirth, the school’s grant coordinator — and the valedictorian of the class of 2000 — said the project’s impact was deeply personal, crediting the school with saving her life and the lives of many of its graduates.
Wirth recalled arriving at Harmony Heights in 1996 after being out of school for two and a half years, and then becoming valedictorian and earning a full academic scholarship to Molloy University, where she graduated summa cum laude.
“I just think about what having something like this would have meant,” she said of the upgraded facilities. “We are the little engine that could, and having support like this from within our own community just means the world to us.”
About 10 Harmony Heights students worked alongside Global Industrial employees during the construction effort, assembling furniture and helping complete projects across campus. Several said they were especially excited about having more opportunities to spend time outside.
“I was really excited for that outdoor call, because I feel like we’re inside all the time,” 11th-grader Olivia said. “I’m really excited to just get to spend more time outdoors.”
Other students said they were excited that their contributions to the project would benefit future classes as well.
Global Industrial officials said that the project reflects the company’s philosophy of combining community service with its expertise in workplace products and design. Storch, the company’s general counsel and executive sponsor of the corporate stewardship program, said that Partnerships with Purpose was established in 2021.
“We are a family-founded business that really stands for the principle that we can do well as a company by doing good in the world,” she said.
After learning about Harmony Heights through another charitable partner, Global employees toured the campus, familiarized themselves with the staff’s needs and developed a plan. The planning was led by Senior Director of Creative Services Glenn Smith, who selected products from the company’s catalog after visiting the campus and creating a visual design.
Global Industrial CEO Anesa Chaibi also participated in the volunteer effort, working alongside employees and students.
“I’m an engineer, and I’m used to building things, and I have tools, so I can actually help,” Chaibi said. “I don’t want to be a figurehead. I’ll roll up my sleeves and be shoulder to shoulder with our team.”
She said she hoped the Harmony Heights students see women in leadership positions as examples for their own futures. “It’s always helpful to have role models of all genders and all backgrounds, all walks of life,” Chaibi said, “but it’s usually a good way to just say, ‘Wow, if that person could do it, can I do it too?’ And I think that that goes a long way as well.”
More information on Harmony Heights can be found at HarmonyHeights.org.
