Many citizens reach out to People for Parks when they see an opportunity for
                                         improving Minneapolis Parks. What will YOUR project be? 
Peg Meier, left, came to People for Parks because her neighborhood park lacked trees. Peggy left notes in her neighbors mail boxes, or talked to them directly about contributing to a designated fund for trees for the area they called Triangle Park  (known to the park board as Reserve Block 40 Park). Peggy's goal was $2,500, but together the neighbors raised $3,120 and put in river birch, swamp white oaks, Kentucky coffee trees and a catalpa. This is a great example of public-private-non-profit collaboration - MPRB removed stumps of dead trees, pruned existing trees, dug holes for and ordered the new trees. Peggy and her neighbors raised funds and helped plant the trees. People for Parks liaised with the Park Board on letters of agreement and ordering, and enabled the donations to be tax deductible.

Marj Wunder was 14 when the U.S. bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and she said she will never forget the day it happened. So when Wunder, an Edina resident, and her husband had a chance to visit Japan in 1983, she started thinking about a way to remember the bombings and warn people of the dangers of war. She received a gift of a stone from Ground Zero in Hiroshima, and when a rock garden in the East Harriet neighborhood was rediscovered after years of being hidden by the debris of a tornado (in fact the seed money for recreating the garden came from a People for Park member), Wunder and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board member Mary Lerman thought it would be the perfect place for it.
The stone, which was originally part of a bridge in Hiroshima, became part of a new bridge in the Lyndale Park Peace Garden. But the bridge, which was dedicated on August 5, 1985, exactly 40 years after the bombing, deteriorated over the years and was eventually removed in October 2007. Marj and fellow volunteers Helen Groth, Norm Groth, Davis Kanatz, Martha Roberts, BJ Zander, Joann Blatchley and Jane Powers (shown at left) raised money to replace the bridge in conjunction with People for Parks and MPRB.The spectacular new bridge with copper, granite and wooden detailing is shown below.

In 2009, a donor gave a designated gift of $5,000 to fund chess tables in Minneapolis Parks. The gift was leveraged with neighborhood associations who offered their own or NRP money to match the donation. The first two tables were installed at Logan Park, on Broadway, just down from a chess club called Chess Castle. PFP will also help with funds for the installation of Linden Hills chess tables, and is actively looking for additional appropriate parks where chess players are active.

Mark Kaplan came to People for Parks seeking a fiscal agent for a memorial to those killed by the crash of NW flight 307. Mark send direct mail appeals to friends and colleagues and was able to get media interest in the story. He also spent countless hours reaching out to families who'd been impacted by the crash and invited them to attend the beautiful dedication ceremony. The 90 year old widow of the pilot, a daughter and sister of victims, grandchildren, cousins, aunts and uncles all came to remember those they lost. See more about the memorial here. Mark must have enjoyed working with People for Parks, as he has subsequently joined the board!