NORWICH – The city parks commission is receiving some extra help from a new volunteer organization to clean up parks this year in hopes of making each one a better and safer place for the community.
The new organization, which is currently nameless, originated in January as a volunteer fundraising committee for Kurt Beyer Pool. Following the city’s announcement that it lacked funding to repair the pool for a second consecutive year, the organization launched a Facebook campaign to raise money.
Since then, donations from the Greater Norwich Foundation, RC Smith Foundation and Roger Follett Foundation have allowed the city to move forward with pool renovations. But while volunteers in the newly-formed committee still plan to cary out fundraising efforts, their overall mission has changed.
The eight active volunteers of the group began to focus on the clean-up and improvements of all six of the city’s parks. Plans to assist the Norwich Parks Commission and Norwich Public Works Department came to fruition when Jacki Glenn, coordinator for the new organization, addressed the commission at a January meeting.
“They were more than welcoming. Everyone’s been very open and willing to accept what we’re doing,” Glenn said of the organization’s collaboration.
Volunteers said they are eager to do work that would otherwise be the responsibility of the DPW, including ground maintenance, pulling weeds, scrubbing graffiti from playground equipment, painting, even making minor repairs to playground equipment with the provision that work is first discussed with the DPW and approved by the city.
“Us doing these little things opens them up to doing larger things,” Glenn said, emphasizing the benefits of time made available to the DPW.
According to Parks Commission Chair Gib Harrington, the volunteerism of the helping hands group is “all for the better.”
“I think everybody’s goal is to have nice looking parks; naturally, the parks commission is all for that,” said Harrington. “They have a lot of enthusiasm and they’re eager to help, and that’s great...In this day in age, I don’t see a lot of that and I’m very glad for their volunteerism.”
“We want to show a little care and pride in our community,” explained Jeff Cola, one of the volunteers of the new organization. His hopes are to create a more welcoming environment for youth at all city parks, he said. “I grew up here and as an adult, I look at some of the kids and the trouble some get in to. Some of them just don’t have a place to go.”
The volunteer group is meeting at the Kurt Beyer Park at 10 a.m. on Saturday for their first clean-up day. Group members are currently seeking more community volunteers to help with the clean-up efforts, including high school students, boy scouts and girls scouts in need of volunteer hours.
In addition, organization members are planning a fundraising event beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 21 at the Kurt Beyer Park. Volunteers will host a bottle drive, bake sale and Chinese auction. In partnership with the fundraiser, the Norwich Elks Lodge on East Main Street will sponsor a chicken barbecue. All the day’s proceeds will be earmarked for the Norwich City Youth Bureau to use to benefit the Kurt Beyer Pool and for materials to repair playground equipment at city parks.
For more information about the new organization and its future cleaning and fundraising efforts, contact Glenn at 244-9728 or via email, poolfriends13815@yahoo.com.