GWD has been blessed with so many good friends here in Dallas.  With their support, we have some very exciting projects under way. The current star of this list is our Eco Learning Center, a part of the Elm Fork Green belt master plan, driven by long-time supporter, Garrett Boone.

In addition, our Green team at the Williams Prep Academy is nearing the end of its first school year. During this time, we had 22 of these young folk come to the Lone Star Trail Building School and complete the basic trail course. These students are now candidates for summer positions working with some of our local and national partners. Moving forward with this program, we are proud to announce the creation of our two newest Green Teams, which are currently under development and will launch in the fall 2013 semester. Seagoville Environmental Science Academy with DISD will house our agricultural-based Green Team, and Heights (one of the UPLIFT educations public charter network schools).

One new program being launched is The Groundwork Dallas “Adopt-A-Trail” initiative, which has recently been approved by the City of Dallas Parks and Recreation department. We will now be recruiting area businesses, schools, churches – you name it – to participate in revitalizing Dallas. Now everyone can participate in stewardship of the Great Trinity Forest and the Trinity River.

We have also signed a new lease to utilize the City of Dallas Eco Park building to begin teaching our trail maintenance classes, as well as other educational programming for our Green team members, and this summer we are working on a program with our state and national partners to create a summer employment program for area youth to work on trail crews at area State Parks.

As if this were not enough!!! We have cleaned over 70 TONS of trash out of the Trinity River and Great Trinity Forest, and over 10,000 tires. We are making a difference, We are Changing Places, Changing lives, and would love to have you volunteer on the 4^th Saturday of each month.

Get out and enjoy the Great Trinity Forest, The River and the Elm Fork; it’s a safari in your own back yard. Have the urge to see it all close-up? Give us a call for a tour!

Peter “Rock Man” Payton

Executive Director

Groundwork Dallas

Garrett Boone

Mary McDermott Cook & Grace Cook

On March 5th, Groundwork Dallas was thrilled to honor our beloved supporters Mary McDermott Cook and Garrett Boone at The Foundry Bar, a sister-establishment to the delicious Chicken Scratch http://cs-tf.com/  next door. Nestled in the quiet but up-and-coming neighborhood just west of the Dallas’ newest addition, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, The Foundry filled with guests there to support the Groundwork Dallas cause. With over one-hundred in attendance, guests included dynamic personalities such as Gail and Bob Thomas, Craig Holcomb and Hector Garcia, as well as Dallas City Council members Vonciel Jones Hill, Tennell Atkins, and Jerry Allen.During the event, Peter Payton and Mary Cook both spoke about Groundwork Dallas’ role in tackling the restoration efforts desperately needed in Dallas’ section of the Trinity River. Mary passionately addressed the crowd with “We have the largest urban forest in the world. We’re Texas; of course we do!” She went on to mention, “the Trinity Forest has been denigrated by the city…Peter’s been so successful, the city doesn’t know what to do with him. We’ve picked up close to 70 tons of trash (which equates to 140,000 lbs.!)”.

The event was a huge success thanks to the generosity and hard work of our Special Events Coordinator, Grace Cook. Her work and insight made this reception Groundwork Dallas’ best event yet!

Why Trees Please? Many trees at the Stone Tables Entrance to White Rock Lake located at E. Lake Highlands Dr. & N. Buckner Blvd. have reached maturity and are beginning to die out. A planting of young trees will guarantee the enjoyment of the area for generations to come and ensure Dallas stays green.

The day began warm if overcast then turned to hours of pouring rain. The weather, however, did not deter volunteers from getting down and dirty. For the Love of the Lake(FTLOTL), The WRL Conservancy, The WRL Foundation, The City of Dallas (Parks and Rec and city foresters among others), and Groundwork Dallas sponsored the event and organized volunteers to fill various roles, including registration and organizing as well as digging and planting. Beanito’s chips and Whole Foods Market-Lakewood provided snacks and drinks, and Campizi’s Egyptian Restaurant on Mockingbird Ln graciously provided pizza for the entire group!

Though it was estimated that between 100 and 200 trees would be planted, we came to a final count of 156 trees, including a circle of pecan trees planted by one Girl Scout Troupe. Groundwork Dallas worked directly with theses scouts to plant this circle of pecan trees where they plan to hold future scout gatherings.

If you missed the event, check out our volunteer and internship page and make it to the next one!

The Cooper Institute volunteered with us at the Keeton Park Golf Course to perform trail maintenance at the Piedmont Ridge Trail. Afterwards we took a tour through the Gateway Trail, to Renda Meadow, and finally the Scyene Overlook. Take a look at the video they made of our expidition!

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October 27, 2012

UT Dallas students volunteered with us on Viva Volunteer Day to clean up trash along the Bachman Creek tributary of the Trinity River. With their help we filled a 40 yard dumpster full of trash and debris from several illegal dump sites. Thank you UT Dallas!!!

Caring Comets Fan Out Into the Community for Viva Volunteer

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October 8, 2012

The Dallas Morning News published an article today on our most recent event for National Public Lands Day! Follow the link to their website to see what our Green Team has been up to.

Groundwork Dallas program exposes teens to ecology careers as they help Trinity Forest

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September 30, 2012

Checkout the latest edition of Greenbeat September 2012!

Click to view – Greenbeat September 2012

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June 31, 2012

Checkout the latest edition of Greenbeat June 2012!

Click to view – Greenbeat June 2012

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May 2, 2012


FOLLOW-UP NEWS:
DCCCD: Get Down and Dirty for a Good Cause

Groundwork Dallas and DCCC campuses provided 190 volunteers who donated 650 hours at the first annual, Be the Change, Service Learning Day – April 28, 2012 in Moore Park, Dallas, TX.

Over 4 ½ tons of trash — (2) 20 yard dumpsters were filled to overflowing, with so much gathered it appeared to be enough trash to fill another dumpster!

The varied trash collected consisted of plastic bottles, glass bottles, styrofoam, tires, plastic containers, paper, and a lot rotting lumber. Random items such as basketballs, soccer balls, metal wiring, carpet, old shoes, rubber and articles of clothing were also gathered.

Unusual items found included an industrial sump pump – which was hauled out by several volunteers. A large stack of PVC pipes were gathered out of the mud and thrown into the dumpsters.

Sadly, one large snake was found dead buried in plastic material.

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April 30, 2012

Tom Thumb/Randalls Grocer: Donating to GWD!!

Tom Thumb believes in working together with their customers to support programs that improve the quality of life in the communities they serve. They are committed to assisting non-profit organizations that are important to their customers and their families. If you have a Tom Thumb/Randalls Reward Card, you can link Groundwork Dallas’ # 12795 to your card. The more people who link their card to Groundwork Dallas, the more money we will raise. Click-here to download the Good Neighbor Reward Application Form. Fill it out and return it to your nearest Tom Thumb Store.

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April 11, 2012

Get Down and Dirty for a Good Cause

(Dallas) – Dallas County Community College District wants students and community members to get down and dirty for a good cause!  A one-day event, “Be the Change,” will bring together people who will volunteer their time to make a difference  — to literally be an agent of change – as they clean up the Great Trinity Forest, the largest urban forest in North America, on Sat., April 28.

DCCCD students are invited to sign up, bring classmates and friends, and give back to their community.  Service learning credit is available for those students who need to earn hours.  The event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon, and sign-in starts at 8 a.m.  Participants are invited to park at the DART light rail station at 8th and Corinth, just across the street from the entrance to the Great Trinity Forest launch site for the event in Dallas.

“We are recruiting students who attend college throughout DCCCD to volunteer for this event, which will be led by Groundwork Dallas,” said Mary Norman, the district’s director of student and community engagement.  “Mahatma Gandhi once said that each of us needs to be the change that we wish to see in the world.  Our event enables students and community members to be that change – to volunteer their time and to help preserve a natural treasure in our area.”

Volunteers must bring release forms, and participants must be 16 years of age or older.  Release forms for minors (one for DCCCD and one for Groundwork Dallas) and for adults (an adult liability waiver for Groundwork Dallas and an adult release form for DCCCD) must be submitted at sign-in.  Visit DCCCD’s web site and click on the provided links to download those forms at http://www.dcccd.edu/BetheChange <http://www.dcccd.edu/BetheChange> .  Each participant must complete a volunteer registration form for the event, which also is provided on the web site.

The first 200 participants will receive free T-shirts, and the day will feature free food, lots of fun, service learning credits and a way to give back to the community as a volunteer. Those volunteers are asked to wear long pants, long sleeves and closed-toed shoes.  They may want to bring water, a hat, sunscreen, a backpack and gloves, said Norman.  She added that volunteers must be dressed properly to participate in the beautification project.

“This day of service is designed to inspire and foster civic engagement and community building through volunteering and community service,” said Norman.  “The event serves as an extension of DCCCD’s mission to provide students with opportunities to grow personally and develop citizenship.  Groundwork Dallas is an excellent partner for this project because its mission is to enable people to realize the merits of the Great Trinity Forest, as well as encourage the community to use, preserve and enhance this wonderful natural resource.”

For more information, contact Norman by phone at (214) 378-1758 or by e-mail at mknorman@dcccd.edu.

Register by April 22 at www.dcccd.edu/bethechange or Click here for for more information

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March 26, 2012

Checkout the first edition of Greenbeat March 2012!

Click to view – Greenbeat March 2012

Saturday September 29, 2012 is National Public Lands Day.  Groundwork Dallas will be participating in this nation wide event sponsored by The National Environmental Educational Foundation.  We will meet at the Loop 12 boat ramp at 8:00 am – address is 4600 Loop 12. Please call Susan or Cindi at 214-422-3219 to register and for more information.  REI will be providing lunch for all participants and The Audubon Center will allow any participants in free for the afternoon.  Join volunteers of all ages in trail maintenance and general clean up of the Trinity Trail Phase I.

Please download the GWD Liability Waiver and fill it out prior to arriving on the 29th.

Now watch us grow. Expanding to work in all areas of the Trinity River corridor and the Great Trinity Forest we are creating lots of opportunities for folks from all over the city to engage in out door rehabilitation of green spaces. We have volunteer opportunities galore. We even have ways for you to come in and work off community service hours or service learning hours for school. Weather you are in High school or Grad school we have exciting programs with our wonderful Trinity Partners that you can get involved in either individually or become a corporate sponsor of a kid, a trail, a park or a whole program You decide how much !!!

Get up and get out this spring with Groundwork Dallas and pitch in as we help save our Forest, Clean up our Watershed and promote active participation and recreation in our city’s best kept secret.

I personally invite you to come out and enjoy the open green spaces with us at any of our events. We look forward to working with YOU !!

Peter B. Payton
Executive Director
Groundwork Dallas

Groundwork Dallas’ mission is to enable people to realize the merits of the Great Trinity Forest, its surrounding resources, and its impact on our future. And, to encourage the community to use, preserve, and enhance these natural resources.

What does that mean to you o’ citizen of Dallas? It means that you have another strong group dedicated to a better understanding of our local forest.

From the latest excitement in Dallas, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge opening celebration TO volunteer community service, Groundwork Dallas is involved in the betterment of the Great Trinity Forest and the Trinity River.

The mission is about boosting awareness, educating the community of the importance of natural conservation initiatives and partnering with those like-minded local state and national entities to achieve sustained regeneration of our natural resources. And its about the kids. Educational and vocational training opportunities for at-risk youth. So really, the mission is about all the good stuff!

Come see what we are all about. Join us for our monthly volunteer opportunities. Check back on this website regularly for all the details. Thanks!