[Durham INC] Burch Ave Park Excitement & Volunteering information

[Jenn S.]

The Burch Avenue Neighborhood is incredibly excited about our upcoming  
park build event made possible by the generosity of KaBOOM!, Blue  
Cross and Blue Shield of NC, and Durham Parks and Recreation.  
Information about the event and a call for volunteer help is below.

-Jennifer Skahen
Burch Ave Neighborhood


Burch Avenue Neighborhood Park – Sarah Coonley

The Burch Avenue Neighborhood has a wonderful little park that came to  
exist over 20 years ago as a result of much community effort.   
Neighbors came together and successfully petitioned the city to turn  
an abandoned lot on the 800 block of Burch Avenue into a park.  In  
1995, Gayle Erdheim who now lives on Gattis St, received a grant on  
BANA’s behalf for additional playground equipment for pre-schoolers.   
As a neighborhood, we have inherited much as a result of this great  
community space.

Over the last few years, several community members have been  
daydreaming about how to continue efforts to improve the wonderful  
neighborhood asset we have in the park.  We have met with  
representatives from Durham Parks and Recreation as well as Duke  
University representatives to look at potential options.  The Burch  
Avenue Neighborhood Association adopted the park this past May and  
began the process of creating a slow, step by step plan that could be  
implemented over the years as resources became available.  It was  
beginning to look like a long, tedious project!

Then, in mid-March 2010, we learned that Durham Parks and Rec, in  
partnership with Duke Community Affairs, was applying for a large  
grant with the non-profit organization KaBOOM for OUR PARK to get a  
new playground!  We won the grant, and thanks to a generous donation  
by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC, the Burch Avenue Park is being  
renovated. We held a Dream Design Day at Healthy Start Academy on  
April 8th, 2010 and our final playground design was chosen at the end  
of April.  We are still in the process of finalizing park  
beautification side projects that will help make the park great for  
community members of all ages.

On June 5th, 2010 starting at 7:30 am, 250 volunteers from Blue Cross  
and Blue Shield of NC, Durham Parks and Rec, Duke, and the Burch Ave  
neighborhood are going to work together to put in the new playground  
in a single day!  There will be food, music, and fun at this great  
community-building event.  We need your help to make this endeavor a  
great success!  Please consider volunteering on June 5th to continue  
the rich legacy we have in the Burch Avenue Neighborhood Park.

Please contact Annette Smith via email Annette.Smith at durhamnc.gov if  
you can volunteer your time for this amazing event. Also, let her know  
if you would like to be a Build Captain (like a team leader) and/or  
you can help recruit other volunteers from the neighborhood. Most of  
the work is about building the equipment & spreading mulch. But there  
are also jobs for organizing the distribution of lunches, first aid,  
and kid friendly projects. Please let Annette know ASAP if you can  
show your support by helping us on June 5th.
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