2021 Projects

In 2021, Partners for Parks has doubled down on its commitment to equity and access in the region’s parks. We have actively looked for ways to be a bigger advocate in underserved communities, and we are just getting started as more opportunities for partnerships reveal themselves as we reach out to these communities. Here are a few of our best events from the year, and know you will support our outreach even more next year as we watch all of our parks Breathe Life Into Our Community.

Parks and Charlotte’s West Side

Partners for Parks has developed an opportunity with the Knight Foundation, Smart Growth America, City of Charlotte Urban Design Center, and Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation to create a groundbreaking new partnership. Together, we will work to leverage lessons learned during the pandemic about the vital importance of public open space and equity in access, to create quality vibrant parks for all. These conversations have helped Partners for Parks focus on building relationships on Charlotte’s west side. We look forward to growing our support to these communities as a group and creating a model for future outreach. Our goal going forward in this partnership will focus on improving access and vibrancy through parks to build more connected communities.

Back-to-School Backpacks

Partners for Parks stepped up our commitment to equitable access to parks for all of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County by partnering with the United Council for Change, Anthony Hamilton, and No Limit Larry during a back-to-school backpack giveaway in Lincoln Heights Park in August. Partners for Parks donated 400 backpacks for the event. While hundreds of children received free book bags, school supplies, and even Partners for Play footballs to toss around at the party-in-the-park, Partners for Parks listened to residents voice how neighborhood parks can best provide value to their lives. The event reinforced the importance of Lincoln Heights Park as an active gathering place for the community.

Summer, Summer, Summerstock

Hundreds came outdoors to play, take in art, and listen to music, as Partners for Parks celebrated summer with the nonprofit Health Empowerment Renewal (H.E.R.) during “Summerstock Charlotte” at Camp Greene Park in June. Board members engaged residents about the value and need for high-quality park improvements while handing out jump ropes and frisbees from the renovated basketball courts that Partners for Parks helped facilitate with grants from Lowe’s Home Improvement and the Charlotte Hornets. It was a fun, family-friendly event that celebrated an improved, more vibrant westside park.

Let the Sunshine In!

A fun neighborhood event makes the most of sunny days with a demonstration event showing the power of solar. Partners for Parks actively works as a liaison between westside community groups and Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Department to bring more activities like the Solar Demonstration Event to west Charlotte park users. For the Solar Demonstration, Partners for Parks provided logistical help to the United Council for Change to show neighbors and students how solar panels can power household appliances like a microwave and a blender, and create cleaner energy and utility cost savings.

ProCamps and Play

Partners for Parks strives to help kids be active and healthy as they grow and thrive through play. Partners for Parks has provided scholarships for hundreds of football campers in the Charlotte region over the past 10 years through our partnership with ProCamps and a third party, the Garth Brooks Foundation. This year five recipients — boys and girls grades 1-8 — received scholarships at the DJ Moore Youth Football ProCamp in June, where they were able to play while running, jumping, throwing, and catching a football.

On the Horizon

Park Cleanups at Lincoln Heights Park, to spruce up the landscape and prepare beds at the community gardens for winter Partnerships to continue to work with city and county staff, the Knight Foundation, and Smart Growth America to improve open space opportunities in the community Please consider continuing as an Annual Sponsor, or joining us if you haven’t already, as we Breathe Life Into Our Community through our support of local parks.