Ready to Volunteer for the Spicket River Cleanup?
Join us for the 16th Annual Spicket River Cleanup!

Please join us and hundreds of volunteers at one of the  largest volunteer events in Lawrence on Saturday, September 16 to clean up the Spicket River and the Greenway. We welcome volunteers of all ages, so bring the whole family! Better yet, bring a group from your business, church, school, or community organization too! 
 
This is a local opportunity to make a real difference and create sustainable change. When volunteers clean the parks and streets along the Spicket Greenway, or remove tires, mattresses, and other debris from the river, we are preventing further contamination and keeping our open spaces green and enjoyable. When hundreds of volunteers work together, we are able to transform individual contributions into a collective effort that literally changes the face of Lawrence. Be a part of that change.
 
For more information, please email  info@groundworklawrence.org 
Trails & Sails - Two Weekends in September!
 
GWL is hosting 3 events, including the Spicket River Cleanup, as part of the 150+ free events offered through Essex Heritage's TRAILS & SAILS: Two Weekends of Walks & Water, to be held September 15-17 and 22-24. TRAILS & SAILS is Essex Heritage's annual celebration of the myriad historic, cultural and natural places found within the Essex National Heritage Area.  Join GWL on Sept. 23th for a Spicket Greenway walk and Sept. 24th for a hike through Den Rock Park.   
 
TRAILS & SAILS 2017 is sponsored by Eastern Bank and Institution of Savings.
 
Essex Heritage is the non-profit organization that manages the Essex National Heritage Area (ENHA) and promotes recreation, education, conservation and interpretation projects. ENHA is comprised of the 34 cities and towns of Essex County, MA. For more information, visit EssexHeritage.org or call (978) 740-0444. 
Check out the Green Team Newsletter!

After a successful seven weeks which included trips to the White Mountains and Yellowstone National Park, trail work with the Andover Village Improvement Society (AVIS), helping prepare and coordinating the Greenway 5K, growing food at Costello, stewarding parks across Lawrence, especially Ferrous, Den Rock, and those along the Spicket River Greenway, and so much more - Summer 2017's Green Team has concluded!
 
The 30 Green Team Members and 6 Green Team Leaders were phenomenal. They rose to every occasion and challenge in making Lawrence and the surrounding community greener, cleaner, and healthier. We are so proud of what they were able to accomplish, and we encourage you to read about it in their Summer 2017 Green Team Newsletter, compiled by the Green Team Leaders.
GWL Greenway 5K a huge success!

We did it! The 4th Annual Greenway 5K was the biggest and best yet! So many came out to support healthy active living by exploring and enjoying one of Lawrence's greatest resources: the Spicket River Greenway. Adults, youth, seniors, babies, dogs, and a chicken raced down the greenway, and you can see their final times!
 
We want to thank all of those who came out on a beautiful Sunday morning, along with volunteers and Green Team members who made the 5K possible! Major support for the Greenway 5K is provided by the New Balance Foundation, which 
supports organizations working for the betterment of our children and communities, with a focus on the prevention of childhood obesity. We also want to thank Lawrence General Hospital and MedExpress Urgent Care for their support.  
Bank of America Presents Check
 
Thank you to Bank of America for  presenting GWL with $15,000 to support our fresh food access programs.   BOA employees enjoyed walking through the market and visiting with GWL Green Team members, farm and craft vendors and doing food tastings prepared by UMass Extension. Bank staff were also greeted by middle school youth participating in GWL's Urban Adventures summer program and learned about finding and harvesting edible plants. We sincerely appreciate your support!

You can check out the GWL farmers markets 10:00 am - 3:00pm on Wednesdays at Campagnone (North) Common, Lawrence, on Fridays at 254 Broadway, Methuen, and on Saturdays at Sullivan Park, Rte 114, Lawrence. 
Partnership for the Buckley Garage

We are thrilled to join with the Lawrence Redevelopment Authority, City of Lawrence, Northern Essex Community College, Elevated Thought, and Lawrence Partnership for a special announcement and kick-off event of the Partnership for the Buckley crowdfunding campaign.
This project will transform the City's downtown transportation hub into a vibrant and welcoming space through place-making and public art.  It is also the first component to be implemented as part of Lawrence's new Urban Renewal Plan, Lawrence TBD.
Please join us on September 20 at 5:30 PM at the Roof Deck of the El-Hefni Building,  414 Common Street, Lawrence to kick-off this important and exciting transformation in downtown Lawrence. You can register here .
The Partnership for the Buckley's campaign is supported by MassDevelopment and Patronicity, a civic and crowdfunding platform that brings together local citizens and sponsors to support great initiatives in their communities.  
Are you in the zone?
 
If you live in one of Lawrence's zones below, you may be eligible to receive one or more free trees through the Green Streets program. On the north side, the planting zone is most of the Arlington neighborhood and the northern half of the North Common neighborhood. On the south side, the zone is the South Common neighborhood. If you live within these boundaries we encourage you to take a free tree, for you, for you neighborhood, for the betterment of Lawrence. If you live in one of these zones, please email Eddie today! 
 
South Lawrence Zone
North Lawrence Zone
 
ECCF Visits Costello Farm & Green Team 
 
Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF) staff, Board Members and community stakeholders visited Groundwork's urban farm at Costello Park. They learned about the work that Green Team and Urban Adventures youth have been doing this summer, funded partially by ECCF's Greater Lawrence Summer Fund. 

Visitors received a tour of the farm from Green Team members and took part in a fun informational quiz created by Urban Adventures youth. We greatly appreciate having ECCF on the farm with our youth and we hope that they visit again!

Groundwork brings "Mountains to Main Street" to Lawrence

Mountains to Main Streets is a National Park Service (NPS) initiative to bring a diversity of users into the parks by more honestly addressing their needs. Our DOI AmeriCorps VISTA Member Eric participated in a training at the beginning of the summer to help community members from across the country create programs to get people in and enjoying national parks. Eric's project focused on taking Lawrence youth to explore parks in Lowell and Lawrence, and create a work of art to represent what they learned. This pictured banner is the culmination of their exploration and reflection, and it will be displayed at the upcoming Spicket River Cleanup. You can read more about their Mountains to Main Street journey on our website.
 
Eric and Groundwork thank NPS, Lawrence Arts House, the Las PiraƱas Crew, and Groundwork USA for their support. Most of all, we want to thank the amazing Lawrence youth for their efforts supporting this endeavor. 

Check out our Calendar for upcoming events, workshops and volunteer opportunities.