PTNY Celebrates the 10th I Love My Park Day

It may have looked a little bit different from previous years, but the 10th annual I Love My Park Day continued our tradition of celebrating our parks, trail, historic sites and open spaces. On May 1 and 2, over 140 events at 110 locations across New York State created opportunities for over 5,300 people to give back to our public lands.

This year’s event may have seen a limit on the number of volunteers that could attend each event but it did not prevent park lovers of all ages from making a huge, positive impact on our parks, and having fun at the same time! Projects ranged from general park cleanup and invasive species removal to beautification efforts such as flower and tree planting, weed removal, reseeding, painting, installation of benches and picnic tables, trail maintenance, and much more.

Thank you to our sponsors who made this event such a success, including the New York State Commission on National and Community Service, CHA, Con Edison, and Harney & Sons Fine Teas, along with a dozen other companies committed to protecting or natural spaces. We also hosted a half dozen corporate volunteer teams, including Woolrich, who joined NYS Parks Commissioner, Erik Kulleseid, at Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Brooklyn.

I Love My Park Day is coordinated at the statewide level by Parks & Trails New York in partnership with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Department of Environmental Conservation. At the park level, Friends groups and park staff oversee cleanup, improvement and beautification projects and work with volunteers.

Check out photos from the day of volunteers across the state giving back and having fun and if you weren't able to make it this year, mark your calendar for May 7, 2022 for next year's event!