Over 60 volunteers participated in the Portage TOWNSHIP Park Dept.’s 4th Annual Community Team-Up 2 Clean-Up event held last Saturday, April 19th. The Township Parks Department has hosted the event each year since Brendan Clancy, Portage Township Trustee has held his office as Trustee. This year, however, South Haven community groups asked if the event could be a community event instead of just a park event. So the South Haven Little League and the South Haven Fire Department were included, along with the Township’s two parks (Haven Hollow Park and Field of Dreams Park), as project clean-up sites.
More than 25 employees from NWI Starbucks stores came out to Haven Hollow Park to pick up from where they left off last year. “Last year we had so much fun sharing a project with the South Haven Boys & Girls Club…”, stated Jim Foster, Portage Starbucks Manager, “that we were looking forward to continuing the project this year”. Last year, the two groups planted 50 tree seedlings in the park’s tree nursery which had been created a year prior by the South Haven Boys & Girls Club volunteers. “It was great to take some of those seedlings we planted last year and move them out into their new locations within the park”. Starbucks employees came from stores as far away as Dyer and Schererville and as close as Valparaiso and Portage.
The South Haven Boys & Girls Club worked at Field of Dreams Park, spreading 29 cubic feet of fibar mulch under the playground. Girl Scout Troop #30003 planted flowers at the Little League, assembled recycle bins and built butterfly houses for Haven Hollow Park. Bounce N Around employees painted the concession building at the Little League as well as other needed projects. South Haven Fire Department volunteers cleaned and improved the grounds around the station. And, local residents and Trustee staff volunteered their time to secure fence guards and beautify the parks.
The day ended with a cookout and celebration for all the wonderful projects completed! Team-Up 2 Clean-Up is held each year in April in conjunction with Earth Week. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Portage Township on Facebook or call 219.762.1623 x 31.
