Mill River Park Collaborative (MRPC)

Operations & land management:manage over 20 acres of park landscape and features including:1) organic lawn and landscape management2) invasive plant remediation3) cultivation of 6 acres of native plant meadows and entrance gardens4) snow removal, bathroom maintenance, trash & litter cleanup, River cleanup, and other seasonal cleaning5) maintenance of hardscape areas, drainage structures, benches, other wooden structures, and drinking fountains6) park visitor safety

Park development:accomplishments during the fiscal year:1) completion of the construction for phase ii heading south along the Mill River in january of 2022.2) continued construction of the whittingham discovery center, which was almost complete at the close of fiscal year 22.

Outreach and education program service accomplishments:1) hosted 15 stewards during the school year 19 over the summer, all are paid high school students. The stewards learned about urban ecology and natural landscape stewardship while receiving job readiness skills including resume writing, taking job interviews and online job searching, as well as an introduction to personal banking.2) hosted 378 volunteers, a 50% increase from last fy as demand of in-person volunteering increased.3) completed 2021 summer program season attended by thousands of residents for zumba, yoga, movie night, and weekly children's entertainment at the playground, carousel, and other locations4) completed 2021-2022 skating season attended by 10,498 skaters, close to returning to our pre-pandemic levels despite continued waves of covid during the skating season.5) partnered with henkel researchers world to spark interest in science for children ages 8-10 by implementing an in-person stem education program. Exceeded the goal of connecting to 250 children by reaching a total of 1,052 children.6) hosted our 4th summer camp serving 60 unique children from the grades of kindergarten thru 8th, maintaining diligent covid management while returning to traditions of feild trips and other activities.