FDR Park gets spruced up with help from nearly 200 Accenture volunteers

Fresh on the heels of the unveiling of the FDR Park Master Plan, nearly 200 volunteers came out to clean and green the South Philly park in one of the largest corporate volunteer cleanups in Philly’s parks in recent history.

On June 14, Fairmount Park Conservancy and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation hosted more than 170 volunteers from Accenture at FDR Park for the company’s service day. With the Conservancy and PPR’s help, Accenture’s Philadelphia region hosted the largest Day of Service among all of their national groups, recruiting more volunteers for the FDR Park event than they recruited at similar events hosted in other cities.

The cleanup included tasks in two dozen spots around the 350-acre park, including tree mulching, wood chipping at picnic sites, trash and litter cleanup by the soccer fields, and removal of invasive species from the edges of the lakes. Volunteers also helped inside the American Swedish Historical Museum. One group who cleaned up litter around the soccer fields and Meadow Lake collected 18 bags of trash.

Throughout the day, Accenture’s army of red shirts attracted the attention of park visitors. One long-time FDR Park-goer said he had been coming to the Lakes since he was a boy, and, a photographer, he still enjoys the park and loves the plans for the future of the park. He was extremely grateful for the team of Accenture volunteers that were helping to keep the park clean.

While some volunteers grew up going to The Lakes, for many participants, it was the first time they had visited FDR Park. “I’ve gone to games [across the street] but I didn’t really know that this park was here,” said Varun Padmanabhan, who participated in Accenture’s Day of Service for the first time. “It was a really good experience and I’m glad we could help out.”