Help McLaren Park is a volunteer community organization which operates under the auspices of the San Francisco Parks Alliance.
Help McLaren Park began working as a group of neighbors and activists trying to improve the condition of a huge local park that has been majorly neglected due to repeated budget cuts over many decades. Safety was and continues to be the number one concern for the majority of residents and visitors who used the park. Help McLaren Park believes that through increased foot traffic the park will be a safer place for all and a better place to visit for the whole community.
Revamping McLaren Park as a whole has proven to be an extremely overwhelming task with substantial associated costs. Help McLaren Park has started by making a huge impact on the Burrows and Gambier St. area of the park that was in desperate need of repair. The improvement of this small site should have an enormous impact on the surrounding community, once again making the park an integral part of the life of a local resident.
As of today, we have been rewarded with four incredible grants, one being the Community Challenge Grant worth 65 thousand dollars. SF Parks Trust honored us with a grant of 2 thousand dollars to help us fund our first informational kiosk, which was installed in the Fall of 2010. About this same time we received a very important grant from SF Beautiful for $3,800 which allowed us to begin our Gambier St. Plaza renovation. Lastly, we were recently bestowed with an enormous Community Opportunity Fund grant of $238,000 which, together with our CCG and COF match of $6500 will finally be enough for us to build our first replacement playground in McLaren Park in many decades. Please remember though, if it wasn't for the small contributions and volunteer hours donated by our own neighbors and friends through activities such as garage sales, chili cook-offs, pancake breakfasts and pizza nights we would never been able to garner the attention we needed from city hall to win any of these grants. We must continue to remain active and vocal if we want this positive change to continue in our park.
As we continually apply for grants and organize activities to raise further funding, the monumental aspects of our goal seems overwhelming in today's economy. We desperately need all the support we can get in order to continue with this project and others that are so badly needed in our corner of the city. Please consider Help McLaren Park through any tax deductible donation and help us make our dreams for McLaren Park a reality for the kids of San Francisco and specifically the Portola, Excelsior and Visitacion Valley Districts.
Core Contributors:
Charles Farrugia
Trilce Farrugia
Erin Becker
Jeanne Crawford
Joan Loeffler
Iris B. Castro
Carlos Castro
Help McLaren Park began working as a group of neighbors and activists trying to improve the condition of a huge local park that has been majorly neglected due to repeated budget cuts over many decades. Safety was and continues to be the number one concern for the majority of residents and visitors who used the park. Help McLaren Park believes that through increased foot traffic the park will be a safer place for all and a better place to visit for the whole community.
Revamping McLaren Park as a whole has proven to be an extremely overwhelming task with substantial associated costs. Help McLaren Park has started by making a huge impact on the Burrows and Gambier St. area of the park that was in desperate need of repair. The improvement of this small site should have an enormous impact on the surrounding community, once again making the park an integral part of the life of a local resident.
As of today, we have been rewarded with four incredible grants, one being the Community Challenge Grant worth 65 thousand dollars. SF Parks Trust honored us with a grant of 2 thousand dollars to help us fund our first informational kiosk, which was installed in the Fall of 2010. About this same time we received a very important grant from SF Beautiful for $3,800 which allowed us to begin our Gambier St. Plaza renovation. Lastly, we were recently bestowed with an enormous Community Opportunity Fund grant of $238,000 which, together with our CCG and COF match of $6500 will finally be enough for us to build our first replacement playground in McLaren Park in many decades. Please remember though, if it wasn't for the small contributions and volunteer hours donated by our own neighbors and friends through activities such as garage sales, chili cook-offs, pancake breakfasts and pizza nights we would never been able to garner the attention we needed from city hall to win any of these grants. We must continue to remain active and vocal if we want this positive change to continue in our park.
As we continually apply for grants and organize activities to raise further funding, the monumental aspects of our goal seems overwhelming in today's economy. We desperately need all the support we can get in order to continue with this project and others that are so badly needed in our corner of the city. Please consider Help McLaren Park through any tax deductible donation and help us make our dreams for McLaren Park a reality for the kids of San Francisco and specifically the Portola, Excelsior and Visitacion Valley Districts.
Core Contributors:
Charles Farrugia
Trilce Farrugia
Erin Becker
Jeanne Crawford
Joan Loeffler
Iris B. Castro
Carlos Castro
