AUSTIN, Texas — In an effort to keep Austin parks beautiful, 1,800 Austinites volunteered their time to on Saturday to participate in the city's annual It's My Park Day event.
Children and adults helped improve 75 different parks, trails and greenbelts around town throughout the morning.
They got down and dirty laying mulch, planting and cleaning up trash.
"The effort put forth by our neighbors on It’s My Park Day has played a significant role in everyday park usage for nearly 30 years. Austinites, along with a growing number of visitors, are able to enjoy the nearly 300 parks around town, in part, due to the volunteers that come out twice a year to help mulch, plant and revitalize those spaces,” said Colin Wallis, CEO of Austin Parks Foundation (APF), the organization that puts on the event.
Volunteers also took on special projects, including the groundbreaking of North Oaks Garden, flag placement for Veteran's Day at Austin Memorial Cemetery, Craft Day & Public Art visioning at Georgian Acres and support of the Pillars Project at Rosewood Park.
Austin Parks Foundation had to keep the event virtual in 2020 due to COVID-19, following a stellar year in 2019 with 3,000 volunteers.
This year, projects were capped at 25 volunteers per site, compared to 80 in years past.
Allison Watkins, the chief strategy officer with APF, told KVUE it was good to see everyone come together again.
"We were really proud of the way that we pivoted and had people do virtual events from their own backyards, cleaning up things on their own, but it really is nice when you have a community be able to really come together to be able to improve their neighborhood parks," Watkins said.
As the Parks Department navigates its tight budget, Watkins said days like this help the department save hundreds of thousands of dollars in labor costs the City would have to hire for.
"It is just a cost that the City does not have to have, which is really helpful," Watkins said.
While this event only occurs twice a year, including another one in the spring, APF has projects the community can get involved in year-round.
The organization has created about 120 park adoption groups through the Adopt-A-Park program, which represent various neighborhood parks across the city. Those groups organize cleanup and beautification events.
The next It's My Park Day event will be held in March 2022. Visit the Austin Parks Foundation website to learn more about volunteering opportunities.
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