As the pandemic put a pause on nearly all businesses’ services last summer, Chicago residents turned to the parks for entertainment. With this jump in use, community members and Chicago Park District employees noticed local parks needed extra care.
The result: Pitch in for the Parks.
A summer initiative by the Chicago Parks Foundation (CPF), Pitch in for the Parks encourages Chicago residents to help clean up their local green spaces. CPF is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to supporting and conserving city parks.
Besides its role as a public service campaign urging Chicagoans to take park cleanliness into their own hands, CPF helps kickstart volunteer participation. Thanks to fundraising and sponsor support, it gives volunteers buckets containing necessary supplies such as gloves, hand sanitizer, face masks, and trash bags.
“People want to be connected to their parks, they want to do good things for the community, but they don’t know how, and they don’t know how to connect,” said Willa Lang, CPF executive director. “So, we’re…the connector.”
Last summer, CPF took responsibility for providing these services because the Chicago Park District could not hire as many seasonal workers during to the pandemic, even as Chicago residents were visiting their local parks more than ever.
With parks “being used so much more,” Lang said, “Volunteering was something really positive for people to do at a time where there was nothing that felt very positive. And giving makes you feel like you have a little control. So, we just thought it was an amazing idea all the way around.”
CPF’s contributions exceeded expectations. The initiative brought in 2,000 volunteers for 350 park clean up events. This summer, CPF already has organized 450 events.
Lang stressed the importance of keeping local parks clean, both for residents and non-resident workers who use Chicago parks.
“If we leave broken benches and garbage cans overflowing, I think people lose respect,” she explained. “But when people know that other people care and are stepping up, I think that has an impact. And I think it instills a certain sense of pride.”
CPF offers multiple ways to get involved. Interested persons can join a park advisory council, for example; these groups bring individuals together to provide extra care for a specific park. Individuals also can get their employers involved to make park cleanliness part of corporate responsibility. Also, anyone can contact CPF to ask for a bucket of supplies to help a park as much as you can by yourself.
For those wondering why to get involved. Louise McCurry, a Chicago resident and president of Jackson Park’s advisory council, explained how caring for your local park more than repays the time each volunteer invests by creating a personal connection to nature and local recreation.
“Pitch in for the Parks is a win-win,” McCurry said. “It provides for safe socialization and maintains the safety, cleanliness, and repair of a community’s parks and their recreational features. Volunteers experience the pride of making a visible improvement in the quality of life in their surrounding community.”
To get involved this summer, visit www.chicagoparksfoundation.org/volunteer and check out the interactive map of participating Chicago parks needing volunteers.
If you do not see your local park on the map, you can adopt one on the website, and CPF will help you get started. The program runs through October.
—Kayla McLeod