NewtonSERVES demonstrates benefits of community volunteering

Residents across Newton gathered in teams once again on the first Sunday in May to participate in NewtonSERVES, a City-sponsored annual day of community service. The program has become a longstanding tradition of neighborhood volunteerism and civic engagement.

This year, adults, teens, and children participated in 27 projects throughout the city, helping to clean parks and open spaces, spread mulch, plant flowers, remove litter, paint public areas, remove invasive plants, and complete improvement projects benefiting schools, community organizations, conservation areas, and neighborhoods.

The City’s Parks & Recreation Department coordinates the NewtonSERVES program and invites residents to sign up for projects located on City-owned properties, including parks, fields, school grounds, and public squares. The event relies heavily on volunteer project leaders who organize teams, coordinate the supply of materials and tools by the City, communicate with volunteers, and help oversee work at their designated sites.

Here is a list of this year’s 27 projects.

• Schools
  • Angier Elementary Garden Clean-up
  • Bowen Elementary 5th Grade Service Project
  • Brown Middle School Cleanup
  • Burr Elementary School Garden and Grounds
  • Mason Rice School Project
  • Memorial Spaulding Spring Clean-up
  • NSHS Beautification & Clean Up
  • Oak Hill Spring Clean-Up
  • Peirce Elementary School Clean-Up
  • Underwood Garden Cleanup
  • Ward School Community Day
• Green Spaces
  • Bullough’s Pond Clean-up
  • Chaffin Park Clean Up
  • East Parish Burying Ground Clean-up
  • Farlow Park Clean-up
  • Martin Poetry Path Cleanup
  • Wellington Park Wake Up
• Invasives Clean-ups
  • Cold Spring Park
  • Dolan Pond
  • Nahanton Park
  • Houghton Garden
• Public Squares
  • Upper Falls Greenway Clean-up
  • Waban Common Mulching Project
  • Waban Reservation – Newton Corner
  • Waban Square Clean-Up
  • Washington Park Spring Clean-up
  • WellanServes

The NewtonSERVES program brings together residents and projects in nearly every village every year. The photos below represent only half of this year’s projects.

Schools

Green Space

Public Squares