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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 […]

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

A diverse group of people, including adults and children, smile while holding shovels around a freshly dug spot in a park. Theyre dressed casually, some in hats and sunglasses, suggesting a community gardening or tree-planting event.

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 […]

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

A tree with its roots wrapped in burlap lies on its side on the grass next to a sidewalk. Cars are parked along the street, and traffic lights are visible in the background.

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 […]

Neighborwoods 2023

A group of people walking on a sidewalk next to a grassy area. Some are carrying tools like shovels and buckets. Two people wear green shirts with the words Trees, Parks, Trails. The scene suggests a community or volunteer event.

Neighborwoods, our fall community tree planting in partnership with the Mayor’s Greening Initiative, took place on the weekend of September 29th and 30th. Within these two days, we reached our goal of planting 200 trees in the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood, totaling 400+ trees planted and 50+ trees given to residents in this neighborhood in 2023! […]

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