The mission of Friends of Grand Rapids Parks is to empower people to cultivate vibrant parks, trees, and green spaces in the Grand Rapids community. Our vision is thriving parks and a sustainable urban forest that actively support our community's economic, environmental, and cultural health. Our organization was founded in 2008 with the belief that all kids in our community are entitled to experiences in parks and opportunities to connect with nature. For some children in our community, their neighborhood park is their backyard; a place to discover their hidden talents and a place to build confidence in trying new things. Great cities have great parks and FGRP asserts that every resident in our community deserves to live within walking distance of a safe and beautiful public green space. Friends of Grand Rapids Parks works in partnership with the Grand Rapids Parks Department to meet the goals of the City of Grand Rapids Master Plan by working with community members to create stewards for parks and trees. Our volunteer program connects thousands of residents with opportunities to beautify a park or plant a tree each year. We accomplish this through park events that bring people together. At many events, our staff gathers input from residents to elevate their voice in community revitalization, change misconceptions about green spaces and community parks, and to build healthy and active communities in the communal space that the park provides. In the past 10 years, contributions to FGRP have mobilized 14,000 volunteer hours for tree planting and park beautification, trained 90 volunteer citizen foresters, and activated 64 park and tree focused events every year.
External link for Friends of Grand Rapids Parks
Grand Rapids, MI 49503, US
Volunteer registration for Neighborwoods is now OPEN! 🌳 We can't wait to plant trees with you! Join us at Neighborwoods, our fall community tree planting, on September 27 and 28 to help us plant 200 trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood. ➡️ Learn more & register at https://lnkd.in/gsRt_43B
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Congratulations to Stacy Bare and all the winners and finalists of the 2024 Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Grand Rapids (ynpn.gr) Leadership and Recognition Awards! 💚🌳
Last night I received the unexpected thrill of being named the Innovator of the Year from the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Grand Rapids (ynpn.gr) To be honored by one's peers in community really is the highest honor. This really is, however, a team award for Friends of Grand Rapids Parks community members, volunteers, staff, and board as well as the funders and sponsors. I get to work daily with a team of all stars who push me, challenge me, and help create and implement the vision for a healthier city through greater nature connectedness. We have a truly incredible team. Thank you to whomever it was who took the time to submit the nomination in the first place. The panelists before the awards, including friends and role models Latesha Lipscomb, JD and Lorena Aguayo-Márquez, M.Ed. shared some incredible wisdom that I'll be thinking about for a long time--"Even in this season in the wilderness, take time to appreciate the beauty of where you are" so said Latesha! Grand Rapids and West Michigan, thank you so much for pouring into me. Congratulations as well to Javier Cervantes Keenan King, Ph.D. Jazz McKinney, MA, LLP 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ and all the other winners and finalists!
October is PACKED with opportunities to get outside in #GrandRapids. This month, join us to learn new skills, plant more trees, care for our parks, and have fun! 💚 To register and learn more about these events, visit our website: https://lnkd.in/ebbxcGqv 10/10: 🚲 Mountain biking workshop with Team Switchback (Pre-registration is requested, but not required!) 10/12: 🌳 Fall tree planting (1 shift, location announced soon via email) 10/19: 🎃 Pumpkin Party at the Friends office (No registration, free pumpkins while supplies last!) 10/26: 🌳 Fall tree planting (2 shifts, location announced soon via email) 🌿 Invasive Control Work Day at Ball Perkins 10/30: 🍁 Halloween Tree ID Walk at Oakhill Cemetery
THANK YOU! 🌳 💚 Over the weekend, 250+ volunteers joined us at #Neighborwoods to plant 200 more trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood. At the beginning of the year, there were over 700 empty spaces for trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood. With your help, 450+ trees have been planted in these spaces during ArborFest in the spring and Neighborwoods in the fall. We are SO grateful for the support from our volunteers, partners, sponsors, and especially from neighbors in the MLK Park Neighborhood. Not only were there fewer tree denials this year (10% rather than our average of 20%), but we also had the privilege of planting alongside many neighbors and are working to fulfill requests for more trees. Neighborwoods is in partnership with the Mayor's Greening Initiative, and these community tree-planting events wouldn't be possible without Mayor Bliss' ongoing support. Over 13,000 trees have been planted in Grand Rapids during her time in office, and we are so happy we could celebrate her hard work and advocacy at Neighborwoods! 🌳 Ready to plant more trees? With our fall planting season in full swing, we have three upcoming tree-plantings, and we could use your help. Visit our website to sign up! 📸: Tiffany Fant (Mo'Photography, LLC)
Tomorrow, we're kicking off our 2024 fall tree planting season with Neighborwoods in partnership with the Mayor's Greening Initiative - and we couldn't do it without our amazing partners and sponsors! 🙏🌳 Thank you to: King Park Neighbors, City of Grand Rapids, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, USDA Forest Service, FedEx, Arbor Day Foundation, ITC Holdings Corp., ASM Global, John Ball Zoo, Farmers Insurance, Verizon, Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling, MSU Federal Credit Union, Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Bartlett Tree Experts, Adventure Credit Union, AHC, Meijer, Orion Construction, Pioneer Construction, Rehmann, TowerPinkster, and more! 💚
Friends of Grand Rapids Parks reposted this
A few weeks ago I had the honor of collaborating with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks and Chris Gray at Premier Skateboarding. We came together for a Build and Skate day to bring awareness to how to construct and improve our local DIY skateparks and bring awareness to the developmental benefits of boardsports. A huge thank you for inviting me to collaborate and celebrate our community Friends of Grand Rapids Parks , and thank you to Thomas Becker and our Chill Foundation mentors for coming out and helping! We had 75 people come join us and couldn’t be more excited about the future of skate boarding in Grand Rapids! Thank you for the amazing photos - Tiffany Fant / Mo’Photography LLC / @mophotographyllc
Help us kick off our planting season at #Neighborwoods, our fall community tree planting! ➡️ Register & learn more: https://lnkd.in/gsRt_43B 🌳 Planting shifts: Friday, Sept 27: 1-4pm Saturday, Sept 28: 9am-12pm OR 1-4pm 📍All shifts begin and end at MLK Park Friday will kick off with an opening ceremony at 1pm, thanking Mayor Bliss and the Mayor’s Greening Initiative for her leadership and commitment to growing our city’s tree canopy. Saturday will include a community celebration from 11:30am-1pm with resource tables, food, and free container trees for participants to plant at their homes. #grandrapids #michigan #treeplanting
Friends of Grand Rapids Parks reposted this
Had a great time w/ our old pal Stacy Bare today at Millennium Park in Grand Rapids. Stacy & Friends of Grand Rapids Parks teamed up with West Michigan Tech Talent to put together a "Tech Trails" hike as part of #TechWeekGR Innovative Tech Jobs + a lunchtime hike mere miles from downtown GR? Sounds like a readymade Let's Grow Michigan Campaign! Brad Garmon Margaret Cox Hilary Doe John Rumery Rachel Gray Andria Romkema Ted Velie Jordan Turner Ben Marchionna Michigan Economic Development Corporation The Right Place, Inc. City of Grand Rapids
It's not too late to register as a volunteer at Neighborwoods, our fall community tree planting! 🌳 We can't wait to plant trees with you. Join us on September 27 and 28 to help us plant 200 trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood. ➡️ Learn more & register at https://lnkd.in/gsRt_43B