April 28 was perhaps the first warm, sunny Saturday of the year, and Cloverly Park was abuzz with activity as 8th-grade students and their teachers from Fitler School and women of the Villanova chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority joined park neighbors for the spring 2018 Love Your Park Day of Service.
With all that person-power (and fueled by park neighbors’ gifts of cookies, muffins, and donuts), we collected storm debris and litter from all around the park and cleared invasive vegetation from two big garden areas. (See the photo of the huge pile of branches and 51 bags filled.)
Most importantly, we met a long-delayed goal of refreshing play areas. Thanks to the energetic volunteers, a massive pile of woodchips from Schectman Tree Care is now a carpet under the park’s play equipment and mulch under seven trees.
Many thanks to those who came from near and not-so-near and worked so hard: you made Cloverly’s 2018 Spring Love Your Park Day of Service a success.
Fairmount Park Conservancy and Parks & Recreation provide support, tools, and mulch not only for Cloverly but also for the hundred or so parks that participate in the twice-yearly service days that are part of Love Your Park, the citywide celebration of Philadelphia’s remarkable and varied park system.
We were among the “early birds” this year, getting a jump on Love Your Park Week.
Check out the events for Love Your Park Week 2018 (May 12 to 19) at https://loveyourpark.org/.
