Originally created by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design collective, Park(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into Park(ing) Spaces — temporary public parks.
Anyone can participate in Park(ing) Day! This project is intended to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity, and play.
More than 40 people gathered in the basement of Fenton Township Hall on the evening of Tuesday, March 24, 2009 to vision for the future of walking and biking trails in southern Genesee County. To date, the county trail plan has identified several routes in the region, of which none are currently established or under construction. CAERs Greenlinks program, supported by the Ruth Mott Foundation was able to facilitate a community meeting that included residents from across the region, members of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint’s Fenton Community Fund, local public officials and county commissioner Patricia Lockwood. Residents were divided into teams to map out biking and walking trails, and identify cultural and historic places of value to the community. Participants were elated to be invited to start the development of trails in their community and commented that they enjoy biking and walking but due to lack of facilities and high traffic, are required to travel outside of their community to do so. With CAERs support, the community’s input will be condensed into a master trails and greenways design for the region and will be included in local parks and recreation plans. The next steps will focus on prioritizing routes and the formation of a friends group to steward the development, fundraising, and education needed to begin “on the ground” work. This program is being done in partnership with the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission and the communities of southern Genesee County: cities of Fenton and Linden, Fenton Township and Argentine Township.
Facilitated by the University Outreach’s GreenLinks program
Student clubs and individual students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate in monthly community service opportunities in the Flint area organized by the UM-Flint Center for Civic Engagement. Locations, time, and the number of needed volunteers vary from month to month, and we are open to your suggestions!
Volunteers are encouraged to meet at the 1st floor UCEN lobby 20 minutes prior to each event’s start time. The First Friday of Service Program Coordinator will lead the group to the volunteer site from this start location 15 minutes prior to the posted event start time.
Saturday, August 8th, 2009 (9:00 am – 3:00 pm)
In August, 1st Friday slides to Saturday to join our Kettering University friends! UM-Flint and Kettering University partner to remove debris along University Avenue in preparation for the CRIM Festival of Races.
Help make a statement for the importance of green spaces by setting up mini-parks around Downtown Flint!
First Friday of Service volunteer hours count toward the Commitment to Service (CTS) and Michigan Service Scholars (MSS) volunteer recognition programs at UM-Flint.
For questions or to R.S.V.P., please contact Gary Ashley at (810) 424-5458 or [email protected]