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| Des Moines' Mayor, City Manager, City Council, Parks and Recreation Board and Friends of Des Moines Parks join Director Ben Page for Earth Day Trash Bash at Prospect Park. |
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Woodland Cemetery Restoration
Woodland Cemetery
2019 Woodland Ave.
Friday, May 11, 9-12:00 or 12:30-3:30
15 volunteers needed per shift
In 1848, five local farmers donated 5.5 acres of land to create Woodland Cemetery. Originally known as Fort Des Moines Cemetery, the first burial in this historical cemetery happened in 1850 and the City of Des Moines took ownership in 1857. Today this historic landmark is 69 acres and time has taken a toll on the stones. Efforts are underway to protect and preserve the memories and stories of the 80,000 buried within this unique location.
Volunteers, using special cleaner, will gently cleanse the stones and remove years of lichens, dirt and debris. All supplies and training provided. Volunteers staying all day receive lunch.
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SUPPORT OUR TRAILS
Various Locations
May 15 4:15-7:30 p.m.
May 16 4:15-7:30 p.m.
May 19 11:15-2:30 p.m.
Want to support trails? Enjoy a couple hours enjoying the fresh air along one of our many trails or street corridors this fall! Hundreds of volunteers are needed to assist with counting and surveying trail users for the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project. Collected information is extremely valuable for evaluating and funding current bicycle and pedestrian facilities and identifying and prioritizing new connections.
All supplies and training are provided. This is a great volunteer event to sign-up with a partner/friend and give back to our community together!
Volunteers can earn $10 as Bike Ped Bucks (good for admissions, activities, memberships, facility/equipment rental and more!) as a thank you OR sign-up for multiple shifts and receive a
FREE 2019 Mayor's Annual Ride and Run registration.
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Memorial Day Help
Glendale Cemetery
4909 University Avenue
Shifts Available:
May 25-28 (Times Vary)
Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, originated years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. The day honors men and women who died while serving the military and many people observe the day by visiting cemeteries or memorials and decorating graves. Do you love history, working with the public and are ready to honor this national tradition and those it remembers? Our local cemeteries are alive with memories and volunteers can help preserve those memories and experiences.
Over Memorial Day weekend, we are seeking helpers to assist keeping our cemeteries clean and beautiful, greeting our visitors, helping guests locate loved ones in their cemetery block and providing help with floral sales.
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Citizen Scientist
Various Times & Locations Throughout Metro
Bats are incredibly important in Iowa and consume large amounts of insects during summer and fall. Bat populations in the United States are dwindling due to habitat loss, wind energy farms and the spread of White Nose Fungus. The City of Des Moines has established 4 bat boxes in Greenwood Park, Ewing Park, Sargent Park, and Chesterfield Community Center. We need help monitoring local bat populations by checking on guano boxes as well as roosting habits. All training is provided and your time commitment is as minimal as 2 nights in the summer for 2 hours.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Hannah Champeau at
[email protected]
or 515-248-6373.
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THANK YOU...
Thank you to the many volunteers that came out these past couple of weeks. We appreciate each and every one of you picking up litter, transplanting flowers in our greenhouse, cleaning up our trails, removing invasive plants, building a gazebo, leading bird walks, monitoring bluebirds and more.
Thank you to more than 102 teams (more than 1900 volunteers) at 75 project locations throughout the Metro that kicked off spring volunteering at Iowa's largest Earth Day volunteer event, Earth Day Trash Bash! Another big thank you to Lamar Advertising, Wells Fargo and Vivian's (Diamond Sponsors $3,000+) for leading the way and to EightSevenCentral, ARAG, Ankeny Sanitation, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Polk County Conservation, Des Moines Water Works, Meredith Corporation, MidAmerican Energy Company, Ernst & Young, VOYA Financial, Principal Financial Group and Friends of Des Moines Parks (Platinum $1000+).
Thank you to the following registered Earth Day Trash Bash 2018 teams:
ADM - DSM, AJAD, ARAG Trash Bash Crew, Bankers Trust, Bolton & Menk, Brook Run Neighborhood Association, Captain Roy's, Captain's Pals, Cargill Team Des Moines, City of DM IT, City of Urbandale, Crazy Till, DES Employment Group Takes Out the Trash, Des Moines Jaycees, Des Moines Rotary Club, Des Moines Rowing Club, Des Moines Water Works, Des Moines West Side Chamber, Disc Golf Club, DM Council/Park Board/Friends of DM Parks, DuPont Pioneer, Earth Day Warriors, East Des Moines Lions, EMC, Empower, Ernst and Young, Foth Infrastructure & Envrionment, LLC, Gannett's Greenies, General Mills, Greater East Side Development, Green & Sustainable Clive, Green Goblins, Green Team, CDM, Happy Medium, HDR Engineering, Hupy & Abraham, INVISION, Iowa Events Center, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, ISG All In, ITA Group, JLL, JOPPA & Dowling Soccer, K.O.O.L. kids, KONE, KPMG, Lamar Advertising, May the Forest Be With You, McCombs Golden Eagles, Meredith Corporation, Miss Iowa 2018, MMC Trash Busters, Mosaic in Central Iowa, Nationwide MM, Parks Area Foundation, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pigott, Principal Financial Group, Progressive, Rebel Art Alliance, Re-Imaginers, Riley Resource Group, Rubbish Removers, Sawyers Landing Neighborhood, Scavo High School, Siemens Industry Inc., Starbucks, Stelter Gives Back, SW 9th Merchants Association & Bill Hansen, Team RDG, The Academy Co-op, The Detritivores, The Energy Group, TRASH TACKLERS, Trash Trappers, TreeKeepers, VA Women's Group & VA Domiciliary, Van Meter 8th Graders, Volunteer Iowa AmeriCorps VISTAs, Voya Financial, Walgreens, Wells Fargo
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OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR PARKS!
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Few places in Des Moines hold as much history as the grounds of Woodland Cemetery. Join local historian and educator Archie Cook on a tour through the grassy knolls and stately trees of one of our city's oldest treasures. In 1848, area farmers on the outskirts of the city donated the first 5.5 acres for Woodland Cemetery. Now it stands as the final resting place of some of the people who built and shaped our city to what it is today.
Tours last approximately 2.5 hours and are free but donations are accepted to help preserve this historical cemetery. Children and strollers are permitted but some sections of the tour will not be easily accessible for strollers due to rough terrain.
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FORE OUR PARKS
Join us Friday, June
15 for the 5th Annual FORE! Our Parks golf outing and bike ride at
Waveland Golf Course
. Learn about Des Moines' parks while supporting the economic, environmental, health and recreational benefits they provide central Iowans.On the 18-mile bike ride, cyclists will use eight city trails that connect to five parks before returning to the Waveland clubhouse.
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Iowa Children's Water Festival
The annual Children's Water Festival is a free one-day event which heightens the awareness of the importance of a most valuable state and national resource - water. Approximately 2200
5
th
grade students from across Iowa participate each year. Class Guides are needed Thursday, May 10 7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
CLICK FOR MORE INFO!
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In case of severe weather, please call our Volunteer Hotline for updates: 515-248-6399
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