AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Thousands of volunteers in Austin are expected to head out to their local park this weekend to try and make it a bit nicer than how they found it.
More than 3,000 people are expected to participate in 'It's My Park Day,' a citywide park cleanup event.
The event happens on Saturday, March 2, and is still seeking volunteers.
Austin Parks Foundation Director of Marketing and Communications Katie Kennedy talked with KXAN about the event's impact.
Tom Miller: 'It's My Park Day' is coming up. What is it?
Katie Kennedy: 'It's my Park Day' has been around since 2003. It's a city-wide volunteer event. It happens twice a year in March and in November on the first Saturdays of the month. I sort of describe it like a flash mob of park improvement projects. So from nine to noon, there's more than 100 park projects happening across the city. You can find a park near you that you love, and give back and make the park better for everyone.
Tom: Can you give an example of what kind of projects we're talking about and what the actual work will look like?
Katie: Here at Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt, they'll be doing litter cleanup. So you'll come and you'll get the pinchers and you get to clean up litter on the trail. Other projects will do things like mulching or invasive species management. Every park is different and there's something for everyone.
Tom: What are the benefits of doing this and how does it end up helping out?
Katie: More than 3,000 volunteers participate typically. So in 2023, during these two events, it was actually a labor value of $600,000 in two days. That's really beneficial to the city. It does a lot to make our parks better for everyone.
Tom: How did this get started and how long has it been going?
Katie: It's been going since 2003. So, we just celebrated our 20th anniversary. It started smaller, and now it has grown to this gigantic community-wide event.
Tom: What other benefits are there for volunteers, and how do people sign up?
Katie: Whenever you participate, you'll get to give back and have that good feeling of I helped make my park better. But you'll also get an 'It's My Park Day' t-shirt. Later in the day, you can wear that t-shirt to more than 30 participating businesses and you will get freebies - givebacks, experiences, food, drinks, coffee. Go to our website, and there you can register. When you click that register link, it will give you a whole list of all the projects, so you can find one and register to participate.
