MLK Jr. Weekend of Service in FMCP

Martin Luther King Jr. Day asks people to come together to build a beloved community through service and volunteerism. This year, the volunteers chose to serve their community in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s National Day of Service by helping the FMCP Stewardship Team clean up the Marina Candelas and the Rodman Gate entrance.

Within two days, over 800 square feet of invasive materials were removed and 123 trash bags of leaves and litter were picked up by our wonderful and dedicated volunteers. These events exemplified Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of acting selfless for the greater good and coming together as a community. 

Not only did our volunteers help their community by beautifying areas in the park, they also participated in creating a web diagram, sharing what giving back to their community means to them and the importance of serving their community.

Many of the reflections were heartfelt and provided inspiration for their community. Volunteers agreed that volunteering gave them a sense of building a stronger community and even fulfillment within themselves of the work they did over the weekend.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” This was a prime example of how even a small group of volunteers can have a huge impact on the dignity of our community and environment. 

Please take a look at the web diagram that the FMCP Stewardship Team put together from the responses of our volunteers. We hope that as we continue throughout the year to inspire you all to serve in your community and to pay it forward by engaging in acts of service.

If you are interested in participating in future volunteer opportunities consider joining our stewardship team! We hope to see you all soon!

Generous support for the Stewardship Team is provided by grants from Con Edison and Citizens Bank.

Winter Warmup Volunteer Event at Ederle Promenade

Last month in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, we closed out our volunteer season with the last clean-up event of the year! High school volunteers persevered through the frigid temperatures to beautify the Ederle Promenade by raking all the autumn leaves to prepare for winter. 

The cleanup united high school students from different communities across New York to accomplish the goal of cleaning up their community park. Volunteers cleared the leaves to enhance the iconic views by the Ederle Promenade and worked as a team to show their teamwork and initiative to care for their community. As the volunteers were bagging the leaves together, they were surprised to see the impact they have made with just a few hours of raking. 

The event was a huge success, despite the cold weather, our volunteers brought their energy and enthusiasm to collect over 165 bags of leaves!  

Thank you to all the high school volunteers who came out to show love to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, we truly couldn't have done it without the energy and enthusiasm that they brought. We hope to see many of the volunteers return in the future! 

Sign up for our Stewardship Team’s mailing list to be the first to hear about new volunteer opportunities when they are announced.

Generous support for the Stewardship Team is provided by grants from Con Edison and Citizens Bank.

World Wildlife Conservation Day 2024

World Wildlife Conservation Day is coming up on December 4th and what better way to celebrate it by raising awareness of wildlife in New York City! Flushing Meadows Corona Park and parks around the city are home to a diversity of wildlife, such as coyotes and white-tailed deer. Lets take a dive to learn about the importance of these species, how they play a role in our ecosystem and ways we can promote peaceful coexistence with them.

Coyotes have been present in New York since the 1930s and have been living around the city since 1995. Coyotes play an important role as they are predators in our ecosystem and prey on small mammals such as rodents. They can be seen during the day however, they are most active once the sunsets and at night, you may also be able to spot them during mating season which is around January to March or October to January. They are very curious animals and they like to observe human behavior but they tend to avoid being close to humans as much as possible. 

White Tail Deers have been around New York since the 16th century and have been a part of our rich ecosystem, they are considered a keystone species which mean they have a direct impact on other plants and animals. They increase plant diversity, soil fertility, and spread seeds. However, in abundance they can be considered invasive and even pose a threat to us while driving. City officials need to manage the deer population so they can peacefully exist with humans. 

With daylight savings time and the sun setting earlier, we may see an increase in coyotes and white tailed deers across NYC Parks. Click here to learn more about the Wildlife in NYC and how we can coexist with these species. Want to get involved? Consider participating in educational programs, tree planting, and park beautification projects. 

Elm Tree Elementary and Fall Leaves at FMCP!

This past week, the vibrant energy of young volunteers from PS 211 Elm Tree Elementary lit up Flushing Meadows Corona Park! Equipped with gloves, compost bags, rakes—and plenty of enthusiasm—these students made a meaningful impact during our cleanup event.

For many of the 130 5th graders who participated, this was their first volunteering experience. It was a valuable opportunity to instill the importance of civic engagement and environmental stewardship in the next generation. Teachers and parents also joined, connecting with students to emphasize the value of teamwork and responsibility. Together they were able to collect 261 bags by the end of the afternoon! 

A huge shoutout to our event staff! Latisha Williams, the park's Deputy Administrator with over 20 years of experience at the Parks Department, demonstrated tool usage to the 5th graders at the event. Her expertise made the learning experience hands-on and engaging.

Another shoutout goes to our Project Development Coordinator, Michael DeVito. He is in charge of organizing volunteer events like these at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and worked closely with some of the classes. He was also able to talk to some of the students, explaining how the process benefits the park by transforming the leaves into nutrient-rich compost.

Events like these are more than just about beautifying our park, it’s about connecting with our local schools and community groups and reminding them how powerful community partnership can be for creating positive change. 

We are so grateful for PS 211 Elm Elementary for all their hard work and dedication to keeping our park clean. 

Interested in organizing similar events? Please complete our volunteer application or email the Stewardship Team directly, volunteer@allianceforfmcp.org, to learn more about how to keep our park greener.

FMCP’s Stewardship Team is supported by generous funding from Con Edison

Bat Box Bash! Event Recap

Just last week, we celebrated #BatAppreciationWeek with the FMCP Stewardship team and Urban Park rangers at our Bat Box Bash event! 

Our dedicated volunteers were able to enjoy a small nature walk along our Pat Dolan Trail while learning some interesting facts about bats. Did you know? Bats are natural pest controllers, they can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in one hour! The volunteers also came together to build beautiful bat box habitats to support their role in our ecosystem. 

Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who came out to learn about bats and helped with our conservation efforts!

FMCP’s Stewardship Team is supported by generous funding from Con Edison