Thank You for Another Successful Make a Difference Day!

On Saturday, October 25th, from 9 AM to noon, 181 community members of all ages served at various sites throughout Five Rivers MetroParks to help us clean up our parks, support habitat restoration efforts, and prepare for the winter season.  

Volunteers supported projects at the following MetroParks locations: Aullwood Garden, Carriage Hill, Cox Arboretum, Englewood, Germantown, Hills and Dales, Huffman-MoMBA, Island, Possum Creek, RiverScape, Taylorsville MetroParks, and the Stillwater and Upper Twin Conservation Areas.         

Service Snapshot:

• 400 lbs of landfill litter and debris were collected.
• 3 dump truck loads of brush removed.
• .75 miles of hiking, biking, and/or equestrian trail corridors were cleared.
• 2.99 acres of invasive plants were removed.
• 1 play/recreational areas were cleaned, restored, or maintained
• 18 odd items removed from the parks.
• 452 trees and/or shrubs were planted.
• 4000 flowers and/or bulbs were planted.

"With the support of a dozen volunteers, we managed to plant 52 hybrid chestnuts at 2 planting sites at Upper Twin Conservation Area" - Kevin Reichling, Conservation Technician

"We prepped four major areas for bulb planting. This included removing the summer annuals that had frost damage, weeding, and raking. We also cut back several perennial plants. The groups that came to help were great. Without a group of that size, we would have needed 2-3 days to accomplish what we got done in 3 hours with that much help." - Payton Johnson, Horticulturist

“We worked to winterize the Maimon Memorial Garden. We broke up into 4 groups. Two groups planted bulbs, one group cut back and removed annual plants, and one group spread compost. Volunteers made a huge impact in getting the garden ready for spring. The impact will be quite visible come springtime when the bulbs are blooming and the veggies are growing strong in the fresh compost. As for the long-term impact, that will be in the continued success of the garden. It will be improving soil with compost and being able to feed our community with the vegetables we produce.” - Todd Strong, Horticulturist

Thank you for making a difference in our parks!

We'd also like to thank our staff for leading volunteers in meaningful service, and our community sponsors for their generous support: 

Montgomery County Environmental Services
Keep Montgomery County Beautiful
QEI Engineers Inc. 

Interested in sponsoring this or other volunteer service events? Learn more and become a sponsor here.

Join us for these additional Public Volunteer Days:

• Adopt-A-Park in April
• Service Saturdays every third Saturday from May-September
• Interested in bringing your coworkers, team, or community group out for a volunteer workday or a series of volunteer workdays throughout the season or year? Learn more about group volunteer opportunities here. 

Interested in other volunteer opportunities with MetroParks? Learn more about our types of volunteer service and how to get started as a volunteer with us.