As Earth Day is upon us, it’s important to recognize those in the community who benefit, protect and maintain our parks. With nearly 170 parks across Long Beach, Partners of Parks helps care for more than 2,000 acres of green space, parks and open fields as well as programs for adults, children and seniors.
Partners of Parks was established in 1985 as a nonprofit organization that aimed to raise money to help support parks throughout the city and provide resources and recreational programs for everyone from children to senior citizens.
“Our mission, our goal at Partners of Parks has always been to try and assist and support parks and greenery in Long Beach,” said Drew Sheariano, executive director of Partners of Parks. “The best way to do that is to work very closely with the Department of Parks and Recreation and Marine.”
Partners of Parks operates in tandem with the Department of Parks, Recreation & Marine. When the department does not have enough money to fund certain projects or maintain existing programs, Partners of Parks steps in to help raise funds. Money is raised through the private sector, and the nonprofit will network with residents and businesses to raise money for whatever needs to be done.
“In this department, there are certain things that are not in the budget and that there is no money to do,” Sheariano said. “When we find out about those things, no matter what they are, if they’re really important, and a priority of the department and the department just can’t afford it, we’ll try to raise money to support whatever program that is.”
Partners of Parks supports various recreational programs including the Long Beach Municipal Band, Movies in the Park and the El Dorado Nature Center. Its most prolific program is called Youth Assistance. The Department of Parks, Recreation & Marine offers six-week classes for children ranging from finger-painting to speech lessons and sports activities for $75. While the department prices the classes as cheaply as possible, some low-income families in Long Beach are unable to afford the fee. When this occurs, Partners of Parks offers scholarships to these children through their Youth Assistance Scholarship program.
“Our main focus right now is the Youth Assistance program because we’re seeing more and more low-income families in the city of Long Beach and, nevertheless, they have kids, and we think it’s really important that kids are taken care of and heard and that they have some kind of a voice and that somebody’s out there helping them besides their parents.” Sheariano said.
Call (562) 570-3209 or visit partnersofparks.org for more information.
