Rooted in Charleston

Let’s Grow Together

Charleston’s parks provide vibrant spaces for recreation, relaxation, and connection – essential building blocks of a strong community. Caring for and programming 26 parks requires $2.5 million annually – or $5,000 a day – 90% of funding is through the generosity of donors like you.

Because of your support, 2025 has been a year of growth and impact – new gardens, free community events, and a thriving volunteer program that keeps our parks blooming.

Now, we need your help to sustain this work and grow what’s next. It takes consistent monthly support to care for our parks, engage volunteers, and connect and nourish our community. Your gift keeps it all growing:

• Park Care & Beautification: Maintaining 26 parks and gardens—keeping them clean, safe, and bursting with color year round—requires $68,000 each month.
• Building Community: Providing tools, training, and coordination for 8,000 volunteer hours annually depends on $4,800 each month in support.
• Celebrating Community: Offering more than 180 hours of free and low-cost programs that bring neighbors together takes $2,500 each month.
• Nourishing Community: Sustaining community gardens, food forests, and cut-flower programs that provide fresh, local produce to neighbors in need requires $20,000 each month.

Together, we can ensure Charleston’s parks remain vibrant, welcoming, and sustainable for generations to come.

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Your Support = BIG Impact

2025 Highlights:

This has been a huge year with a major park renovation, new festival launch and community led program and park expansions as well as the rebranding of our beloved volunteer program.

• Colonial Lake Idea Garden: One year, three acres, 44 new trees,10,000 new plants and 1,200 volunteer hours. We hope you have had a chance to visit Colonial Lake and see all the hard work we have done with our volunteers. Plant guides and other resources coming soon!
• Bloom Charleston: Bloom Charleston festival was held on October 17 & 18 with international speakers, local artists all celebrating the completion of the beautiful new Idea Garden at Colonial Lake.
• Conservancy Stewards volunteer program: Rebranded and revitalized. Our volunteers are the heart and soul of the Conservancy and we want you to join us. Become a steward today!
• Music in the Parks: Six nights, three parks, 1,000 free popsicles handed out and 1,400 neighbors gathering together for relaxed evenings of free music, ice cream and fun.
• Ashleyville Food Forest: 1/3 acre, 19 varieties of fruiting trees & shrubs, estimated 18,000 pounds of free, organic produce for the community to harvest annually at maturity. This is the best outcome of collaboration with the Conservancy, neighborhood, City and fiscal sponsors.

Looking Ahead to 2026:

In 2026, we are focusing our attention on elevating our smaller park gardens so that every space we manage reflects our mission. In the coming year, in addition to maintaining our entire portfolio of parks we will be stewarding our new gardens at Colonial Lake and the Ashleyville-Maryville Food Forest through the critical first year establishment period. We will also be expanding our cut flower gardens at Medway Community Garden.

Based on YOUR feedback from our end of year survey, we look forward to bringing back Music in the Parks and walks in the parks, classes about edible and pollinator gardening and much more.

Every contribution, regardless of size, makes a significant impact in enhancing your cherished green spaces and bringing our community together.

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Setting the Stage

Clean, safe and manicured parks are our canvas. The Conservancy’s goal is to make each park visit magical by bringing seasonal color and interest, pollinators and other wildlife to each of our urban park gardens and to you – all while avoiding harmful chemicals to ensure that our parks are safe for families, pets and wildlife. Check out our Conservancy park finder to plan your day!

The Conservancy must raise $68,000/month to ensure our 26 parks not only stay clean and safe but are a point of pride for our City and community.  

Donate today to help us keep your parks beautiful. Increase your impact by making your donation monthly and become a Friend of the Conservancy!

Building Community

Volunteers have been the heart and soul of our organization since its founding. Cultivating and growing our base of Conservancy Stewards is critical to both supporting our mission, allowing us to properly care for our 26 parks and gardens and execute 200+ hours of programming annually.  It takes 8,000 volunteer hours to maintain our 26 park gardens.

Learn about our volunteer opportunities HERE or contact our volunteer manager, Collin Howell at chowell@charlestonparksconservancy.org.

The Conservancy must raise $4,800 per month to ensure our volunteers have the tools, training and support they need. Donate today to help us keep your parks beautiful. Increase your impact by making your donation monthly and become a Friend of the Conservancy!

Celebrating Community

Connecting people to our parks is core to our mission. The Parks Conservancy brings communities together against the beautiful backdrop of our park gardens–building friendships, celebrating neighbors and enjoying life outdoors. 80% of Conservancy programming is free to the public while 20% has a nominal charge to cover our costs. 

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and check our calendar for a full listing of events and details. 2026 highlights include:

Teddy Bear Picnic: Save the date for March 1, 2026 and bring the family for an afternoon of wholesome fun at a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed day at Hampton Park.

Music in the Parks: The #1 request from our end of year survey! The Conservancy’s free Music in the Parks series will return to Magnolia Community Garden, Corrine Jones Park and Moultrie Park this spring and summer.

Potlucks: A celebration of our urban farms that engage and educate gardeners in growing their own produce.   In partnership with Slow Food Charleston, each spring and fall we welcome hundreds of neighbors to our community gardens for a day of sharing, dining and mingling.  (Did you know, produce from our teaching gardens is donated to neighborhood centers to support access to healthy foods where it’s most needed?)

Walks: An invitation to move and meet your neighbors! Volunteer led walks are designed for all fitness levels and meet weekly in the spring and fall for an invigorating morning with new friends.

The Conservancy must raise $2,500 per month to produce 180 hours of free programming each year. Donate today to help us keep your parks beautiful. Increase your impact by making your donation monthly and become a Friend of the Conservancy!

Nourishing Community

Now, more than ever, it is up to us to support our neighbors in need. The Conservancy developed Grow it Forward in 2014 as a way to create and maintain beautiful parks for all while giving back to our community. We currently steward three community gardens, two food forest and two cut flower production spaces. In 2026 we will:

• Add a third food forest locations on public land to sustainably increase our reach by making 35,000 pounds of organic produce available annually to neighborhoods with high rates of food insecurity. These neighborhoods learn and grow with us.
• Expand Charleston Trees with more classes, more giveaways and more opportunities to increase our urban tree canopy.
• Expand the cut flower garden at Medway Community Garden on James Island. In response to challenging climate conditions at our pilot cut flower garden, the Conservancy, with support from HDR Young Professionals, will expand and restructure our Medway Cut Flower Garden using sustainable planting practices to allow for soil repair and water conservation. Bouquets are donated to organizations that serve women in crisis.

Hear from Reverend King of The Pink House about the impact of the produce to her community.

The Conservancy must raise $20,000 per month to maintain our three community gardens, three food forests, two cut flower gardens and our Charleston Trees program. Donate today to help us support those in need. Increase your impact by making your donation monthly and become a Friend of the Conservancy!

The Charleston Parks Conservancy accepts qualified charitable distributions, donor advised funds, securities such as stocks, corporate matching programs, and more. Please consider becoming a Friend of the Conservancy with a monthly donation or learn more about our planned giving circle. Contact Emily Topham with any questions at etopham@charlestonparksconservancy.org or 843.670.0479.

For unrestricted donations, which allow the Conservancy to use funds where most needed, please select ‘Support Your Parks’ in the dropdown menu.