Five parks each receive $50,000 for park restoration, beautification or enhancement needs and a new Bobcat zero-turn mower

Bobcat Company, a global compact equipment, innovation and worksite solutions brand, has extended five grants, each worth $50,000, to parks across the nation as part of its partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).

In addition to the grant offering, every park and recreation department that applied for the grant—regardless of receiving the grant or not—will receive a new Bobcat zero-turn mower to help them accomplish more for their community spaces.

The recipients of the $50,000 grants include City of Stonecrest in Stonecrest, Ga.; Davidson County Parks and Recreation in Lexington, N.C.; City of Buffalo Parks in Buffalo, N.Y.; San Antonio River Authority in San Antonio, Texas; and City of Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation in Auburn, Wash.

“Our commitment to positively impact communities is ingrained in all of us at Bobcat, and we are humbled to give back to these deserving communities in support of this mission,” said Mike Ballweber, president, Doosan Bobcat North America. “By supporting sustainability efforts today, we can offer a better tomorrow to the generations to come.”

Through Bobcat and NRPA’s shared commitment to creating vibrant and sustainable community park and recreation areas, the grant dollars will support various restoration, sustainability, beautification or enhancement activities at these sites.

The grant recipients’ plans include:

• City of Stonecrest in Stonecrest, Ga.: The City of Stonecrest, located east of Atlanta, plans to develop a walking trail at Everett Park. The new trail aims to encourage community residents to engage with the outdoors and attend the park and recreation department’s programs which include forest therapy programs, bird watching walks, summer camps, fishing and camping opportunities. The local park and recreation team will utilize the grant dollars, plus Bobcat equipment for forest mulching, grading and compacting to support development of this new ADA-compliant trail.
• Davidson County Parks and Recreation in Lexington, N.C.: A pollinator garden and bog garden is being developed at a newly created park called Yadkin River Park. The project is being led by the Davidson County Parks and Recreation Department in collaboration with the master gardeners of Davidson County, Catawba College Department of Environment and Sustainability, North Carolina state agencies, Town of Spencer and Friends of Rowan County. The gardens will demonstrate the resilience of the native bog plants in North Carolina, and it will also protect the surrounding community from adverse effects like water pollution and flooding. Educational signage will be on display for the public and local educators to use these spaces to teach children as they play at the nearby playgrounds. The agencies will work together to plant, mulch, maintain and teach people how these plants help the environment.
• City of Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y.: The City of Buffalo Parks and Buffalo Niagara River Land Trust are partnering on a 22-acre conservation easement known as Houghton Park. What was once a dumping ground of large broken concrete slabs, bricks and stones, will become an open nature conservation area in a dense urban neighborhood overlooking the Buffalo River. The project team will leverage compact equipment from Bobcat to remove the heavy construction debris, while offering a light footprint on the sensitive landscape. The conservation area will reconstruct pedestrian trails and create access points from the area neighborhoods.
• San Antonio River Authority in San Antonio, Texas: The San Antonio River Authority plans to develop new trails, create two bioswales and plant native species at its 351-acre Trueheart Ranch Park which fronts the San Antonio River. These park initiatives aim to make the park more resistant to climate outcomes. After the completion of this project, the park plans to open these areas to the public and offer various programming opportunities such as fishing clinics, tent building and nature hikes. The team will utilize Bobcat equipment for use in constructing the trails.
• City of Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation in Auburn, Wash.: Located south of Seattle, the City of Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation will create a more inclusive environment for the community by creating new ADA-accessible gravel pathways at Auburndale Park. The project will reinvigorate two existing pathways to remove the outdated asphalt and replace it with crushed gravel. To complete the project, the team will use Bobcat equipment to demo the asphalt, then to install the gravel paths to proper grade.

“We are so excited to help create more sustainable and resilient communities by extending grants to these deserving communities,” said Ayanna Williams, NRPA director of community and environmental resilience. “Park and recreation professionals are champions in addressing our most pressing environmental challenges and we are grateful to Bobcat for their support to improve, preserve and beautify these spaces.”

Each park will begin its project this summer with varying stages of completion over the next several months.