Business Spotlight: Card My Yard Greenwich

Ask Jan Cornell of East Greenwich, RI, what her favorite part of owning the “Card My Yard Greenwich” franchise is and she’ll tell you it’s “giving back.” Jan considers herself a “Sign Fairy” and a “Joy Bringer.” She left her corporate job in the healthcare industry to spread joy in the community. From celebrating birthdays, healthcare heroes, heart transplant celebrations, cancer remission parades, to wedding, anniversary, and baby shower announcements, she loves surprising the recipient of her beautiful, colorful signs with cheer!

Early in the pandemic, her kids were both distance learning, no one could see their friends, or celebrate birthdays, and as a Mom, Jan found that extremely hard to go through. She was looking for a way to spread joy at such an awful time, and Card My Yard was the answer, so she purchased the Greenwich franchise in late 2020.

Each sign she places has its own story: she has partnered with an organization called Enzo’s Escorts, which gives local pediatric cancer patients a full police escort home on their last day of chemotherapy. Card My Yard provides the sign for their homecoming; she has set up a sign for an East Greenwich High School student who enlisted in the Army last year; she even placed a sign for a woman who was in a diet challenge with her friend. The sign was festooned with donuts, cheeseburgers, and French fries, and read, “You will never beat me!” To Jan, placing a sign for her customers is so much more than that. It’s a captured moment in time for an individual or family.

Jan has lived in the East Greenwich/Cowesett area for 20 years and has gotten to know so many local families through Card My Yard. And as a Washington Trust customer, she’s excited that the Bank will be opening their East Greenwich branch on the corner of First and Main in a few weeks!

Do you know a special person you’d like to celebrate for an upcoming graduation, milestone birthday, or a new baby on the way? Visit Card My Yard Greenwich’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/cardmyyardgreenwich/) to see samples of Jan’s work. Best of all, you can use the code WASHTRUST20 to receive 20% off any yard sign package when you book an order on www.cardmyyard.com. Offer valid through December 31, 2021.