"Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids." project volunteers prepare an entranceway to West End Park in San Antonio for new planting beds that will make the park more appealing to neighborhood residents.

 

Some of the more than two dozen volunteers for the project take a break from renovating West End Park. Volunteer crews aerated, over seeded and applied top dressing to improve the health of the turf and overall safety of the baseball and soccer fields.

Project EverGreen completed the latest "Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids."project at West End Park in San Antonio. The park's baseball and soccer fields were given a needed facelift to provide neighborhood children and families with a safe place to play and exercise. A team of companies and organizations delivered more than $16,000 in landscape and turf enhancements.

Working in partnership with the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, Texas Nursery and Landscape Association and Texas Water Smart Foundation, Project EverGreen and industry volunteers provided the materials and labor to restore more than 34,000 square feet of the park's playing surfaces and entryways. The undertaking is one of more than a dozen "Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids." projects taking place across the United States.

Green industry volunteers ValleyCrest, Billy Long Enterprises, Keller Material and New Earth Compost donated organic materials, fertilizer, plant material, hardscape products, equipment and labor to complete the project.

The initiative included soil aeration and fertilization, application of soil top dressing, excavating and grading the infield surface of the baseball and soccer fields, and installation of two new entryway planting beds and hardscape materials. The fields were rehabilitated using Texas Water Smart water conservation techniques to ensure the green spaces are water efficient now and in the future.

"Our mission is to preserve and enhance green spaces where we live, work and play," said Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. "Parks, sports fields and recreational play areas are vital to healthy, thriving communities. One of the ways we demonstrate our commitment is by mobilizing generous local landscape industry contractor volunteers to donate their time and talents to make these projects possible."

The park's baseball and soccer fields are used by hundreds of neighborhood children as well as area residents. The improvements to the fields are made possible, in part, due to a water conservation education grant administered by the Texas Water Development Board.

Project EverGreen's "Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids." is a nationwide initiative to renovate and revitalize parks and athletic fields to ensure children have access to safe green spaces on which to play and exercise. More information on "Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids." can be found at https://projectevergreen.org/programs/healthy-turf-healthy-kids/.