Description of Project
Our final project was a service event in which we helped clean up a public park. We partnered with the Chicago Parks Foundation and attended one of their clean up events at Oz Park on Saturday, October 21st. The Chicago Parks Foundation was generous enough to provide us with all of the cleanup materials, such as trash bags, garbage grabbers, as well as snacks and water. We invited our friends and family to come join the cause. Those who could not attend were encouraged to donate through the Chicago Park Foundation’s website. We asked them to put “Group 7” in the donation note so that we can track the donations.
Description of Charity
The Chicago Parks Foundation is a nonprofit partner of the Chicago Park District, one of the largest municipal park managers in the nation. The Chicago Park District offers many activities and programs for people of all ages. Their efforts are assisted by the Chicago Parks Foundation, who help raise funds and awareness for various park projects. One of the ongoing projects we participated in is called Pitch in for the Parks, which schedules weekly park cleanups at various Chicago parks throughout the summer and fall.
Factual Analysis of Success
| Objective | Goal | Accomplished |
| Have people attend the event | 20 people | 31 people |
| Raise money for the CPF | $125 | $175 |
| Cleanup the park | Leave no trash | Left a little bit of trash in the playground area |
Lessons Learned
Communication is vital: Scheduling weekly meet ups helped us stabilize our communication and ensure everyone was on the same page.
It’s good to plan early: Everything went a lot more smoothly when we preplanned. Everyone had time to prepare so there were less hiccups in our project.
Advice for Future Teams
The earlier you start the better: It’s best to choose the time, date, and place for your event early on so that you can get a head start on other things like advertising. This will help guarantee a successful event.
Hope for the best but prepare for the worst: Creating solid contingency plans will save you in case external circumstances are not in your favor.
Seek out organizations that are willing to help: The Chicago Parks Foundation provided us with all of the supplies to clean the park, so we had no expenses. If it wasn’t for them, we would have had to purchase the trash bags and grabbers ourselves.