Thank you, volunteers! It’s My Park Day 2026 Update

Galindo, thank you to everyone who participated in the very enjoyable and productive Spring 2026 “It’s My Park Day” volunteer event in South Austin Neighborhood Park on March 7th!

We had excellent Galindo representation in the volunteers making improvements to our beloved park; 75 percent of the 36 volunteers were neighborhood residents! Brush and downed limbs were gathered in three huge piles, and many bags of trash were collected throughout the park and along the creek.

Neighborhood residents also contribute to park improvements throughout the year, picking up trash, reminding dog owners to clean up after their animals, and completing mulching and many other ongoing projects.

The next city-wide Austin Parks Foundation “It’s My Park Day” event will be on Saturday, November 7th.

Several major South Austin Neighborhood Park improvement projects have been funded with grants from the Austin Parks Foundation (APF) in addition to private donations, including most notably the development of the trail.

To be eligible for APF grants, we must match some of the money we apply for and can do so either with direct financial contributions or the calculated value of volunteer time.

Volunteer time on park projects is calculated at $35/hr by the Austin Parks Foundation. We have “banked” many hours on multiple projects and will add $2853 from volunteer hours completed at this event for the next grant we apply for. GENA adopted South Austin Neighborhood Park in 2019 as part of the APF “Adopt-a-Park” program.

GENA’s banked APR funds were recently used to pay for transporting and installing boulder seating as part of a neighborhood-initiated improvement project at the Stone Crest, Juanita, and Herndon entrances of the park. The boulders were donated by the Austin Parks Department.