Com·mu·ni·ty noun
A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

It’s My Park Day:

As we reflect on the 20th anniversary of It’s My Park Day, this word – community – rises to the top of the conversation. Everywhere you looked on Saturday, November 4th, there was a ‘Volunteer Here’ sign–93 to be exact.

The impact from these projects extends well beyond a Saturday morning in the park. At these 93 sites, there were 2,940 volunteers. That’s where the word community comes back into play. These projects allow park adopters, neighbors and park users to create change together.

Leading up to Saturday’s event, we spoke to project leaders who have grown their community thanks to APF and IMPD.

“I like to think the IMPD opportunities have given these neighbors a great sense of purpose upon participation.” – Anissa Castillo, St. John Pocket Park

“We constantly remind Austin residents that Austin parks need volunteers to help maintain their beauty.” – Malcolm Yeatts, Country Club Creek Greenbelt

It’s My Park Day brought 6,241 volunteers together during the spring and fall events. That’s $559,960 in value with 18,723 volunteer hours logged and 96,170 pounds of trash collected. That’s a lot of time creating community in our local parks, trails and green spaces!

As we look back on this 20th anniversary, we hope that we touched on our mission to enhance people’s lives by making our public parks, trails and green spaces better through volunteerism, innovative programming, advocacy and financial support.