Reflections on Transformative Achievements and a Bright Path Forward
Oh, what a year….reflections from Executive Director/CEO, Darlene Heater
Charleston is such a special place–and our parks play starring roles in why people love this city and their neighborhoods.
The Conservancy team works hard ALL. THE. TIME. I have learned there is no “slow” time at the Conservancy. In the last year, we made significant investments in five Conservancy maintained parks. Our Conservancy team and hundreds of volunteers undertook herculean efforts to make improvements at Rose Pavilion at Hampton Park, Wragg Square, Vangie Rainsford, and Corrine Jones parks as well as Tiedemann Nature Center. These park champions created new gardens, installed beautiful horticulture and restored beleaguered spaces that suffered from extreme weather events. They also installed South Carolina’s first public food forest at Mulberry Park in West Ashley. I am constantly amazed by their dedication and perseverance–and the joy they bring to and get from this work every day. The Conservancy remains committed to stewarding 26 of our city’s parks – and Charleston is so well served by the Conservancy staff with unwavering support from our stalwart volunteers.
Our volunteers are our backbone. The Conservancy will engage more than 1,400 volunteers this year who are instrumental in keeping our parks in extraordinary condition and who support the work of your Conservancy through a myriad of meaningful programs. To enable this army of volunteers, our team delivers an organized and seamless volunteer experience from initial communication though execution; and we are just going to get better. This summer, we updated our technology and now have a single system to manage volunteers, event attendees and donors–providing a significant improvement in our online experience.
We are stronger when we collaborate and build meaningful partnerships. Our team thrives when we explore with our partners how we can better serve our community–together. We are finding new ways to work with United Way, SEWE, Trident Community College, the Charleston Horticultural Society, Charleston Promise Neighborhood and many others.
We are ever-so-grateful for your support of the Conservancy through financial contributions, as volunteers, event attendees and park users. Our year end fundraising campaign is critical to sustaining our organization–please support us. Our volunteers are critical to getting the work done–become one. Our events are only as successful as the number of people who enjoy them–join us. Lastly, we create extraordinary park experiences for you–enjoy them (often)!
It has been an incredible year of growth at the Charleston Parks Conservancy. Our future is bright and we want YOU to be part of it.
