Volunteers contribute service for Southlake’s Great American Clean Up

On Friday, March 18, the City of Southlake partnered with Hurst Texas Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for the annual Great American Clean Up. 168 volunteers, most of them between the ages of 14-18, dedicated an afternoon during their spring break to help with multiple park projects.

There was a lot to be done and our volunteers worked hard all afternoon and were able to accomplish a significant amount. Volunteers spent time at Bob Jones Park painting the restrooms and moving the horse pens at the northern equestrian parking lot. The Walnut Grove trails have been greatly impacted by all of the rain in the past year, and the volunteers used flex base to fill in eroded and washed out areas. The team worked a section of the trails that led from the Bob Jones Nature Center all the way to Lake Grapevine. Along the trails they trimmed low limbs, cleaned up liter, and used rakes to smooth out ruts. The volunteers also tackled projects at the Bob Jones Nature Center. They built a fence and installed 50 cubic feet of decomposed granite to improve the restroom area and improve accessibility for all users. They also removed overgrown grass and installed 200 cubic feet of decomposed granite to the trail leading from the Nature Center to the Pavilion.

When all was said and done, 336 total man hours of service were donated, which saved the City $8,285 in labor costs. The volunteer groups were led by community equestrian volunteers as well as the City of Southlake Parks Crew. A brief video has been posted to the Southlake Parks Facebook page: www.facebook.com/southlakeparks.

For more information, visit the Keep Southlake Beautiful page, or contact the Community Services Department at 817-748-8019.