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Seattle Parks and Recreation news and events

Parks and Recreation seeks nominations for annual volunteer awards

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Seattle Parks and Recreation is seeking nominations for the Denny Awards, which honor volunteer service to the city’s parks and recreation system. The deadline for nominations is Monday, Oct. 19, 2015.

The awards will be presented at a recognition ceremony from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec.1, 2015 at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.

The Denny Awards acknowledge and honor the crucial role volunteers play in neighborhood parks, community centers and recreation programs throughout Seattle. In 2014, 36,633 people volunteered for Seattle Parks and Recreation, providing 257,152 hours of service. Though the volunteers’ efforts are invaluable to the department, the Corporation for National and Community Service estimates that the monetary value of a volunteer’s time in the U.S. as $22.55 per hour. That means in 2014, volunteers donated $5,798,777 worth of time to Seattle Parks and Recreation! [Read more…]

Broad range of free dental, vision and medical services offered at giant health clinic

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People in need of dental, medical and vision services may receive them free of charge at the largest free health clinic ever organized in the State of Washington, Seattle/King County Clinic, Oct. 22 – 25, in KeyArena at Seattle Center.

Now in its second year, Seattle/King County Clinic brings together over 100 healthcare organizations, civic agencies, nonprofit entities, private businesses and thousands of volunteers with a goal of providing over $2.5 million in services to underserved and vulnerable populations. This extraordinary free clinic offers a broad range of medical, dental, and vision care with an expectation of helping as many as 4,000 people in need over the four-day period. Here is how the Clinic works:

· Clinic patients receive treatment on a first-come, first-served basis. [Read more…]

Thank you United Way Day of Caring volunteers!

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volunteers at arboretum

Microsoft and Nordstrom employees volunteer during the 2015 United Way Day of Caring at the Washington Park Arboretum.

Thank you United Way Day of Caring volunteers from Microsoft, Zymo Genetics, Mutual of Enumclaw, Nordstrom, Forest Ridge Academy, Jewish Day School, Virginia Mason, Globys, Blue Nile, United Way, Seattle U, T-Mobile, Gates Foundation, Alaskan Copper and Rockwell. Your volunteer effort makes a huge difference in our community! Enthusiastic volunteers  worked in two dozen of Seattle Parks and Recreation’s gardens, greenspaces, parks and centers! Special thanks to partners such as Earth Corps, Youth Green Corps, Seattle Tilth, City Fruit, Nature Consortium, Green Seattle Partnership, Seward Audubon Center, Arboretum Foundation and Solid Ground for hosting projects and welcoming volunteers!

National Day of Service volunteer opportunities available at Seattle Parks and Recreation

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Volunteers during the National Day of Service on Sept. 11 at Longfellow Creek.

Volunteers during the National Day of Service on Sept. 11 at Longfellow Creek.

Volunteers during the National Day of Service on Sept. 11 at Longfellow Creek.

Volunteers during the National Day of Service on Sept. 11 at Longfellow Creek.

Seattle Parks and Recreation has a number of opportunities available to celebrate the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance Day. These opportunities range from weeding and mulching to picking up litter in parks.

“We have had numerous requests from teachers to perform service tomorrow,” said Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jesús Aguirre. “Already we around 450 teachers signed up to volunteer. We are so grateful to these teachers who are giving their time and energy to help make our parks better for everyone.”

Teacher-led work parties are taking place at Carkeek, Roxhill, Lincoln and Madrona parks, as well as along the Burke-Gilman Trail and Longfellow Creek, and at the Rainier Playfield. While these work parties are already filled to capacity, a few more are still open. [Read more…]

Disney volunteers spruce up Leschi Park

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Disney volunteers in Leschi Park

Disney volunteers in Leschi Park, photo by Sara Franks

Thank you, Disney, for donating time, staff and funds for the stairs project at Leschi Park. On a hot and humid August day, 75 Disney volunteers worked diligently at clearing brush and building stairs in the park. Your efforts help make Leschi more welcoming and accessible for the community.

Thank you Amy Yee Tennis Center volunteers

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QuickStart tennis participants

QuickStart tennis participants

QuickStart tennis participants

QuickStart tennis participants

Amy Yee Tennis Center’s staff hosted a wonderful Jamboree for the QuickStart Tennis Program participants, volunteers, parents and friends Aug. 12. This year the program had 240 kids at 13 sites around the city, from Soundview in Ballard to Rainier Beach. Forty-five volunteer coaches contributed over 1,465 hours to make this program a huge success this summer!

Your volunteer efforts make a real difference in our community.

Saving Place: Restoring the Demonstration Gardens at Carkeek Park

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Written by Deborah Phare, Seattle Parks and Recreation Volunteer

Graceful stems of old-fashioned Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) in the Prairie Garden.

Graceful stems of old-fashioned Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) in the Prairie Garden. Photo by Lorene Edwards Forkner

Public demonstration gardens begin with idealism, hope, and the best of intentions. In the mid-1990s, a small but ambitious project was undertaken in Carkeek Park, a 216-acre public park in north Seattle. With the help of many volunteers, a few Parks and Recreation department employees, and funding from two generous grants, gardens beds were installed adjacent to a meadow in a large open area behind the park’s administration buildings. The goal was to show the diversity of plants that could easily and successfully be grown in the Pacific Northwest without the use of fertilizers, insecticides, or pesticides, and with little-to-no supplemental water. Each bed focused on different soil and growing conditions that challenge gardeners in our region. Eights beds demonstrated a variety of plantings including a kitchen garden, woodland shade, a rain garden, a blue garden, and various plantings for pollinators and of Western natives.

But maintaining a garden requires attention and resources. And, as often happens with projects fueled primarily by volunteer effort, over time the demonstration gardens suffered from want of care and, eventually, neglect. Occasionally, staff would prune large shrubs and small trees to clear pathways, but no weeding was done. The garden beds became overgrown and many plants died.  [Read more…]

Volunteers remove 5,000+ cigarette butts from Alki Beach

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Seal Sitters and volunteers collected more than 5,000 cigarette butts from Alki Beach on June 13. Photo by Eilene Hutchinson

Seal Sitters and volunteers collected more than 5,000 cigarette butts from Alki Beach on June 13. Photo by Eilene Hutchinson

A cigarette butt is tossed on the beach. It’s not biodegradable. It can take up to 15 years to decompose. During that time it leaches cadmium, arsenic and other poisons into the earth. It may be ingested by a toddler, bird or fish. At Seattle Parks and Recreation, we’re trying to prevent that situation, and we’re thankful for our community partners joining in the effort.

On Saturday, June 13, Seal Sitters led an Alki Beach cleanup with more than 80 volunteers. Seal Sitters is an all-volunteer group dedicated to the protection of marine animals and their urban habitats in Puget Sound. After a brief educational program led by PAWS Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries, the volunteers scanned the beach picking up litter and debris. [Read more…]

Help restore heron habitat

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heronsJoin Green Seattle Partnership from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 13, for a work party at Kiwanis Memorial Preserve Park and help restore forested habitats for the Great Blue Heron and other wildlife. Nesting season for herons is in full swing.

Volunteers will contribute to forest restoration to ensure suitable nesting habitat for generations to come and will help reduce concentrations of greenhouses gases in the atmosphere.

Tools and gloves will be provided. Volunteers should wear sturdy shoes. The group will meet near the parking lot of Commodore Park (3330 W Commodore Way).

To register, go here.

Seattle Parks volunteers log nearly 13,000 hours during Earth Month

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April was Earth Month, and Seattle Parks and Recreation volunteers donated more than 12,775 hours to improving our parks and other greenspaces. The hard work and commitment of volunteer trailblazers, forest builders, environmental educators and urban farmers expands the depth and breadth of our programs. These volunteers and the community members they inspire represent the current and future generation of environmental leaders, and we’re so thankful for all they do.

There were 108 work parties hosted in April by various community partners. For more information on getting involved with our volunteer programs, go here.