Edmonds CC student volunteers make a difference at Lynnwood parks
10/30/2012
Edmonds College students and faculty volunteers made a difference on Oct. 27 for Lynnwood parks.
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Edmonds CC instructor Daniel Griesbach and friend Jim Belles clean up invasive species
at Gold Park.
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News via City of Lynnwood
On Saturday, Oct. 27, more than 100 volunteers joined together in Lynnwood at Lynndale and Gold Parks for National Make a Difference Day.
At Lynndale Park, 52 volunteers showed up to help. Volunteer groups included two Girl Scout Troops, members of the Cascade Orienteering Club, middle school students from youth development program C US LEAD, a Lynnwood Park Board member, and several community members.
Lynnwood Mayor Don Gough and Lynnwood Councilmembers Mark Smith and Benjamin Goodwin bolstered the effort by swinging shovels and rakes, working side-by-side with the volunteers.
Volunteers helped spread new woodchips around playground equipment, re-graveled a portion of the park’s many hiking trails and tackled blackberry bush removal along the trails. Volunteers worked tirelessly in the rain from 9:30 a.m. until noon, leaving drenched but warmed by the gracious food and beverage donations from Starbucks on 196th Street SW in Lynnwood, Ivar’s Restaurant of Lynnwood, and Jersey Mike’s Subs of Lynnwood.
The Learn and Serve Environmental Anthropology Field (LEAF) School at Edmonds and Everett Community Colleges partnered with the Snohomish Tribe of Indians, REI, Ivar's and the City of Lynnwood to host a service-learning project at Stolja Ali: A Place of Medicine Ethnobotanical Garden at Gold Park on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26th and 27th.
Between the two days 58 volunteers removed invasive species and helped clean up the park. Volunteers came from service-learning classes at Edmonds, Everett and Cascadia community colleges, AmeriCorps and the Snohomish, Tulalip and Saanich tribes. Tribal elders and storytellers shared teachings about plants and animals that helped students learn through their service and Ivar's of Northgate served clam chowder to volunteers.
The Learn and Serve Environmental Anthropology Field (LEAF) School at Edmonds and Everett Community colleges will partner with REI, Ivar's, the Snohomish Tribe of Indians and the City of Lynnwood to host a service-learning project at Stolja Ali: A Place of Medicine Ethnobotanical Garden at Gold Park in Lynnwood, WA from 10 am to 2 pm on Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service, Jan. 21, 2013.
An ethnobotanical garden recognizes the role that plants play in people's lives. Students will learn from traditional storytellers and tribal elders while planting native species, removing invasive species, and installing interpretive signage. REI will thank volunteers with T-shirts, and Ivar's will provide clam chowder. Funding for this project comes from Oregon Campus Compact.
The City of Lynnwood would like to thank everyone who participated in the park improvement projects. If you have a group of people interested in participating in a park clean-up, please contact Julie Moore, Community Outreach Specialist at 425.670.5023 or by email at jmoore@ci.lynnwood.wa.us.