Bidding on a Project in Grand Rapids? Work with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks and Receive 1% Bid Discount

Do you represent a business bidding on construction or goods and services projects with the City of Grand Rapids? You can receive a 1% bid discount and support Friends of Grand Rapids Parks by participating in select Friends programs! Bid discounts allow your original bid amount to be discounted by a certain percentage for the […]
Announcing Friends of Grand Rapids Parks’ 2026 Community Event Lineup

Friends of Grand Rapids Parks is excited to announce our free, community event series lineup for 2026. Each event promotes a park activity in partnership with local leaders and experts who will provide instruction and insight for participants. Our hope is that participants will have a fun, rich experience and come away from each event […]
WOOD TV8 | Neighborwoods 2025
The Shelley Irwin Show | Neighborwoods 2025
ArborFest unites neighbors to grow Grand Rapids’ tree canopy
Getting Ready to Vote: Q&A with 2024 Candidates!

As our community gets ready to vote on Tuesday, November 5th, we wanted to learn more about mayoral and city commissioner candidates and their plans for Grand Rapids’ parks, trees, and trails. Friends of Grand Rapids Parks does not endorse any candidate or campaign. Below, you will find links to Q&As from candidates. You’ll learn […]
200 Trees Planted at Neighborwoods 2024

On September 27th & 28th, 250+ volunteers joined us at Neighborwoods to plant 200 more trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood. At the beginning of the year, there were over 700 empty spaces for trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood. With the help of these volunteers, 450+ trees have been planted in these spaces during […]
The Shelley Irwin Show | Neighborwoods
Community Forest Conversation Recap

Last Wednesday, we partnered with Amplify GR to host the Community Forest Conversation. Moderated by Latesha Lipscomb (Amplify GR) and featuring Jasmine Brown (PhD student at MSU) and Tiawanna Ezell (Urban League of West Michigan), this conversation focused on the historical relationships between African Americans, forests, and green spaces. Our speakers discussed what has harmed […]
Tree Denials: Why ‘No’ is Always an Option

Written by Becky Pobst, Director of Forestry While planning for our two largest planting events of the year, ArborFest in the Spring and Neighborwoods in the Fall, we focus on our most important step: finding out who doesn’t want a tree. Something we hear often in our work is, “Who wouldn’t want a tree?!” It’s […]