Students will be getting down and dirty in an effort to give back to the community through cleaning up Philadelphia parks on Saturday, Oct. 6.
Temple University community service volunteers will be helping out the Fairmount Parks Commission by working at Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia.
“All those interested in helping restore the natural habitat of Philadelphia parks are more than welcome to lend a helping hand,” said Volunteer Service Coordinator for the Fairmount Park Commission Thomas Dougherty.
About 100 Temple students will be a volunteering at FDR Estuary Park, while students from LaSalle and Wharton will work at other branches of Fairmount Park.
Dougherty stresses the importance of “restoring the natural habitat for the wildlife that live in the parks.”
Park cleanups are not new to Temple students, and certainly not to 1940 Liacouras Walk’s third floor. This year the hall has been designated as the first ever “community service floor” at Temple. Most of the FDR Park volunteers come from this floor.
“We helped out at Penny Pack Trail for ‘Celebrate Temple!’ and that was a great experience,” said Floor Vice President Brandon Rosenberger.
There was major flooding at the trail from hurricanes. The third floor rebuilt brick walls and cleaned the trails and creek. Items removed from the creek include handcarts, six rusty shopping carts, beer bottles, clothing, a kitchen sink and numerous tires.
“The first cleanup went so well that the people at Fairmount [Park] kept calling to express their gratitude and we thought, if such a cleanup project works so well, then we should make it a priority,” said Floor President Lindsey Brown.
With over 8,900 acres of neighborhood and regional parks, Fairmount Park is one of the largest city parks in the nation; however, urban pressures have caused deterioration.
Ray DeStephanis, coordinator for Temple’s Office of Community Service, asserted the importance of volunteerism and action at Temple.
“Our main goal is to have 100 people from the floor and TUCSA [Temple University Community Service Association] volunteering, with the hopes that we get at least 50 more students who come out to help either on their own or through other organizations,” said DeStephanis.
For more information call Thomas Dougherty of the Fairmount Park Commission at (215)-685-0039 or e-mail at ThomasDougherty@phila.gov. Students may also call Ray DeStephanis at (215)-204-5789.
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