Philadelphia’s Park Friends groups were busy in 2024 celebrating and caring for their local parks!
For over 30 years, volunteer-led community groups have organized park activities, clean-ups, and plantings to ensure that Philadelphia neighborhood parks are vibrant, safe, and welcoming. Today, more than 140 Park Friends groups across Philadelphia make up the city’s Park Friends Network.
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and Fairmount Park Conservancy are proud to work year-round with the network, and to invest in the Park Friends’ expertise and community leadership through an annual mini-grants program that provides funding for specific Park Friends activities and projects.
“Park Friends are well known for making sure that parks are green and clean, and advocating for needed improvements,” said TJ von Oehsen, Coalition & Convening Manager for the Conservancy. “But another essential part of this work is bringing parks to life. Every year, Friends groups organize an incredible number of events and activities that welcome people into the parks and highlight the role that public spaces play in thriving neighborhoods. Park Friends are uniquely qualified to lead these programs because they know their park, community, and neighbors so well.”
This year, the mini-grants program funded more than 100 park events planned and hosted by Park Friends groups. For example, The Cobbs Creek Ambassadors used their grant to organize a summer festival with food, live music, games, and environmental education opportunities. Friends of Hawthorne Park used their mini-grant to organize a four-part summer series of monthly evening jazz shows. Other events around the city included outdoor movie nights, a qigong workshop, music concerts for kids, and even a special park visit from the Philly Goat Project!
The Friends of Morris Park used their grant to host a free music festival featuring local artists. The annual Sol Fest has taken place in a few different Philadelphia locations, and in 2024 the park was the perfect place for a day of music, food, and games. In turn, a festival was exactly what the Friends group needed to invite more neighbors to visit and explore this tranquil and wooded park on the city’s western edge.
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“The park is not really that known or visible, so I thought that if we had more events and invited people in the neighborhood, it would help visibility,” explained Milena Freeman, president of the Park Friends group. “We want to share the land with the people and make them aware that it’s there. There’s a creek that runs in the middle of it. A lot of people that come there say it’s very healing and relaxing. We want people to be aware of it and use it as a resource to unplug.”
Not only did the event increase local awareness of the park, but it gave the Park Friends more visibility, too. Freeman reports that more people have started participating in the group’s monthly cleanups, which are important for managing litter and short-dumping in the park.
To learn more about the Friends of Morris Park and upcoming events, check out their Instagram page.
At Brewerytown Garden, the Park Friends used their grant to host a summer-long series of weekly educational workshops. Workshop subjects included topics for different ages and ranged from cooking and wellness advice to martial arts, chess, CPR training, book discussions, crocheting, children’s science activities, and much more.
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The series originated during the COVID-19 pandemic, starting as a weekly cooking class taught over Zoom. With continued support over the years and the Park Friends mini-grant covering event supplies, the workshops have become an in-person opportunity to learn new skills and connect with the garden and fellow neighbors.
“More people come in now,” said Gloria Page, who has been part of the garden community for 11 years and organizes the workshop series. While community gardens can appear closed or inaccessible to neighbors who don’t have a plot in the garden, Page explained that the workshops have changed that perception. “We’re trying to bridge the gap in the neighborhood and tell people they are welcome in the garden.”
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Interested in the Brewerytown Garden workshops? Email Gloria to join the mailing list!
Park Friends stay busy all year caring for their local park and making community connections. Visit loveyourpark.org to find your nearest group and get involved!
