Greenwood launched a foundation to help make improvements to its parks and give the community a chance to get involved in the process.
The Greenwood Parks Foundation went live Wednesday. The intention of the foundation is to provide assistance to the Greenwood Parks Department with additional programming, donation opportunities and community-wide initiatives.
The Greenwood Parks and Recreation Department received a big financial boost from the city this year, with a 15% increase in overall spending in the city’s 2020 budget. The foundation is meant to supplement the money coming from the city, not offset the costs, said Krista Taggart, a parks foundation board member.
The department manages 14 parks spanning 271 acres, more than 20 miles of linear trails and a variety of recreational facilities, including Freedom Springs Aquatic Center and the Greenwood Community Center. The department also hosts a number of popular annual events, including Freedom Festival, Rock the Clock, Puppy POOLooza and Touch A Truck.
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Through the foundation, the community will be given more opportunities to donate time and money to Greenwood’s parks and recreational amenities, she said.Â
"Both corporations and individuals have expressed interest in getting more involved, both with their time and with their funds, and this provides an easier tax-deductible way to do so," Taggart said.Â
The formation of a foundation will also allow the department to create scholarships for area students, she said.Â
"Those are easier to do through a not-for-profit than through the government. For example, if we wanted to offer discount swimming lessons or something like that to low-income kids, it would be easier to do that through the foundation," Taggart said.Â
Parks foundations are common in cities. Indianapolis and Columbus have similar foundations, for which they may use donations for youth scholarships, trees, pollinator parks, playgrounds, facilities and more.
Greenwood city and parks leaders have been contemplating this idea for a couple years as a way to get the community more involved, Taggart said. It was formally approved and created late last year.Â
No donations have been made yet, but Taggart hopes several will come in soon. The foundation will start small. So far, there are not any large donor-funded projects in the works, she said.
Large parks projects paid for by Greenwood’s tax-increment financing (TIF) monies include a $5 million renovation of Old City Park, and the $9 million fieldhouse project that is in the works at the former Greenwood Middle School. Those types of projects would not be funded through a foundation, Taggart said.Â
A few of the foundation’s first initiatives include adding more shaded areas to local parks, starting youth scholarships, improving the city’s dog parks and some small beautification projects at each park, she said.Â
"They (the parks department) will have a body of volunteers and supporters built in to help them on things — sort of a friend of the parks network," Taggart said.Â
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To make a donation to the Greenwood Parks Foundation, visit the website: greenwoodparksfoundation.org/donate
Donations can be made online through a portal on the website. For more information, visit the "Contact" tab on the foundation’s web page.Â
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