Philadelphia Parks Alliance

The staff and volunteers who keep the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation sites going are essential to their communities. Watch this space in the coming weeks to see how we celebrate these heroes. Let us know in the comments where your favorite Parks & Rec Heroes work and feel free to mention them by name!

In a normal year, today would be a day of service in remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr. Unfortunately, we were unable to gather this year but we still recognize and carry the spirit of MLK in our work here at Parks Alliance. As MLK has said Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?’

With more than one-and-a-half times the visitors of previous years, we were reminded in 2020 of how important our Philadelphia Parks & Recreation sites are. We are grateful to the rec center and park staff and volunteers who work hard to keep these essential places going. https://whyy.org//philly-parks-dept-city-parks-saw-50-mor/

We love this painting tutorial video with Alberta Gibson of Schmidt Playground (one of our #ToolsForHeroes) finalists. When we visited Schmidt last year, we were thrilled to see the cool art that Alberta and the children from the community have created. Check out the video to learn a technique you can use for projects at home: https://youtu.be/uBLT9wM6pRI Speaking of YouTube, if you want to watch any of our Readalongs and Q&As with other organizations that we streamed in 2020, you can find them on our channel. (Please subscribe while you are there, as we will have other livestreams coming soon.) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzpNxV-H_uw1cnCZjk6xKHQ/

As we celebrate the new year we would like to thank all of the staff at Philadelphia’s Access Centers who worked so hard in 2020. Access Centers serve Philadelphia’s most vulnerable school-aged children whose parents work outside of the home and do not have adequate access to childcare. A majority of these access centers are also recreation centers. We want to thank the staff at all of these centers who are helping children to continue their education in these difficult times. A special thanks to our grant winners: Athletic Rec Center, @philapenroserec, James Wright Rec Center, @jamesfinneganplaygroun, @olneyrec, Kingsessing Rec Center, and Hunting Park Rec Center which all act as access centers. For more information on finding an access center near you head to https://www.phila.gov/programs/access-centers/.

Philadelphia Rec Centers needed our help more than ever in 2020. Parks & Rec took a $12.5 million budget cut, while the need for parks and out of school time programming increased under COVID-19. The Alliance responded by creating the Parks & Rec Heroes Fund, and we raised over $100,000 from individuals like you, William Penn Foundation and Lowe's Home Improvement. Many people gave generously this summer to provide much-needed supplies and support to Rec Centers. And we went ...the extra mile to make sure that we brought the rec centers what they needed most and that we put the supplies directly in the hands of their staff. Please help us close out 2020 on a positive note with a donation to our Parks and Rec Heroes Fund so we can continue to support Philly's essential rec centers and the communities they serve. https://www.philaparks.org/donate

Next Wednesday, October 28, join us over at Vare Recreation Center from 9 to 11 AM for a clean-up. Vare Rec Center is located at 2600 Morris St in the Grays Ferry neighborhood. We will provide snacks and tools, just bring yourself and your mask!

Join us tomorrow, 10/23, for a clean-up at Carousel House from 9-11 AM. Carousel House is located at 4300 Avenue of the Republic. Sign up at the link here https://www.givepulse.com//210044-Carousel-House-Recreatio

Thank you so much to all the volunteers we've had at all our clean-ups so far. We appreciate the hard work! To volunteer for one of our upcoming clean-ups or to find out about other ways to help out check our Give Pulse page: https://www.givepulse.com/group/events/410152

Next up on our #COVID19ResponseFund roundup is @Philadelphia Parks & Recreation site Penrose Playground. Penrose Playground has received a $1,000 grant to help them cover costs that have accrued due to pandemic related budget cuts. Penrose Playground is located in North Philadelphia on Susquehanna Avenue. The playground features basketball and tennis courts as well as a pool! In order to help better their community, Penrose plans to enhance their youth visitors' entrepreneurial skills. This grant will be used to obtain the materials needed for the program. We can't wait to see the youth succeed in the future!

On Wednesday, Philadelphia Parks Alliance staff and Philly Pumptrack volunteers did some major weeding at the Pumptrack! While we were so enthusiastic to dive in and pull, weedwhack, clip, and machete the weeds that we didn't get the classic before-and-after pics, these photos will give you an idea of what we were up against and what we accomplished. Today, we were planning on having a clean-up at James L. Wright Rec in Mantua. The rain had other plans, so we have rescheduled it for next Wednesday, October 21, from 9am to 11am. You can sign up for the Wright Rec Center clean-up and other future volunteer events by going to this link: https://linktr.ee/philaparksalliance

Tomorrow’s clean-up at Wright Recreation Center has been rescheduled to Wednesday 10/21. Please sign up here https://www.givepulse.com/event/210490

We're thrilled to chat with our partner Kelly Offner of Keep Philadelphia Beautiful on Wednesday at 1pm. Kelly is an expert in what can be done on a larger scale to keep our city cleaner as well as how to organize a group for a cleanup. We've learned so much from her that we've been able to apply to our rec center cleanups. KPB was also our partner in our #ToolsForHeroes program to support rec centers with Lowe's gift cards.

This Friday, 10/16, join us over James L Wright Recreation Center from 9 to 11 AM for a clean-up. Please sign up at this link https://www.givepulse.com/event/210490.

This Wednesday, 10/14, join us from 9 to 11 AM at Philly Pumptrack for a clean-up. Snacks and good company provided! You can sign up here: https://givepul.se/n42ak5

Conestoga Playground is next up on our #COVID19ResponseFund awardee round-up. This Philadelphia Parks & Recreation site has received a $1000 grant to help cover the increased cost of operations due to the pandemic. Conestoga Playground is located in West Philadelphia on 53rd street. Conestoga features a beautiful playground (the one featured in the photo above, courtesy of Playworld) in addition to a playground. With the coronavirus pandemic, however, Conestoga’s needs have changed. In their quest to serve their community’s new needs we have provided them with a TV and gaming setup. We hope the folks over at Conestoga make good use out of it!

Our next #COVID19ResponseFund is Philadelphia Parks & Recreation site Mander Playground. Mander Playground has received a $1000 grant to help cover costs that have accrued due to COVID-19 related budget cuts. Mander Playground is located in Fairmount Park in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. The site is 22.3 acres and features a pool, sprinkler, sports fields, and more. In an attempt to keep Mander great in these difficult times, we have supplied them with a workstation setup and headphones. We hope these items can help make things a little easier for the folk over at Mander.

Next up for our #Covid19ResponseFund is Philadelphia Parks & Recreation site Carousel House. Carousel House has received a $1000 grant to help cover the increased costs of operating in a pandemic. Carousel House, located in Fairmount Park, is a fully accessible recreation center, where people with disabilities can feel comfortable to learn, socialize, and play. Carousel House offers amenities like a fully wheelchair accessible weight room, an accessible garden, and much more. In addition to their $1000 grant, we have provided Carousel House with a Lowe's Home Improvement storage shed and disc golf equipment. We can’t wait to see the folks over at Carousel House enjoying their materials!

Join us next Saturday, October 10, 9-11AM for a clean-up at Tustin Recreation Center. Be sure to sign up at the link below! https://www.givepulse.com//209195-Tustin-Playground-Clean-