Thank you Knapp Properties Volunteer Chaperones for taking our Evelyn K Davis Program kids to visit Principal Park and watch their first Iowa Cubs game!
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
UPCYCLE Stewards
Gray's Lake Park
Third Thursdays
August 15 & September 19
5:30-7:30 p.m.

Help us improve our water quality, diversify our woodlands and UPCYCLE our invasive plant species into food and fun for Blank Park Zoo’s birds, reptiles, primates and mammals.

Volunteers, age 14 and older, will be trained to use loppers and hand saws to cut and drag out unwanted plants. Please wear close-toed shoes or work boots and long pants to protect yourself.
*BONUS: The first 30 adults get a free drink afterwards courtesy of Confluence Brewing next door!
RIVER RUN GARBAGE GRAB (R2G2)
New Reno Dog Park Parking Lot (off Hubbell)
August 16, 8:00-Noon

Join the City of Des Moines and Polk Soil and Water Conservation for our annual summer clean-up in Fourmile Creek. Stand in cool flowing water, shaded by green trees enjoying the last days of summer while giving back to your community. Volunteers will help dig tires, bikes and other debris and litter out of the creek bed and haul it up to the trail.

Volunteers will have to walk on uneven terrain at times and are encouraged to wear water shoes, waders or something to protect their feet and walk through sand, rocks and some mud while in the creek. Tools and supplies are provided.
NATIONAL BICYCLE and PEDESTRIAN DOCUMENTATION PROJECT (Bike Ped)
Various Locations
September 10 5:00-7:00
September 11 5:00-7:00
September 14 12:00-2:00
*Approximately 45 min. of additional training (online or in person and travel time needed to get to site)

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. 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 2020 Mayor's Annual Ride and Run registration. 
PROTECT our PLANTS
Flexible Openings Available

Love trees, flowers and all that is green and glorious in our parks? Mulch is important helping retain water, insulating the soil, keeping weeds out and provides a protective buffer. We need small teams to help us for a few hours and mulch our parks.

Dates are flexible. We will provide all the tools, supplies, mulch, sun and fun. We just need you! 
sunny-tree-boughs.jpg
THANK YOU...
Lokus Ngo and the Watchman Community Center youth for cleaning up Prospect Park. John Deere NEON and JOPPA for cleaning sections of trail along the Des Moines River. You make DM more beautiful each day!
UPCYCLE volunteers for removing invasive plants and opening up the view of Gray's Lake. We hope you enjoyed your free drink at Confluence Brewing after!
...ALSO big thanks to Jason Hemmer and Polk County youth, Bridges of Iowa and those that helped at our cemeteries with memorial restoration, decoration clean-up, stone raising and more. We appreciate it!
CELEBRATING 10 YRS OF YOGA
We hope you are enjoying your summer. There is still time to join us as we celebrate 10 years of Yoga in the Parks, at the Clare and Miles Mills Rose Garden.. Thank you to Denny Kelly for bringing this idea to our community and to all of the instructors that have donated their time to share their gifts each week. Click below for more details on this summer's volunteer instructors.
City of Des Moines | Parks and Recreation | 515-237-1386 | dmparks.org | parksvolunteer@dmgov.org