Highbridge Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Highbridge Recreation Center Celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Of Service

In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, many Recreation Centers organized service projects to give back to the community in honor of his legacy. At Highbridge Recreation Center, we were tasked with running a sock drive that entailed the collection of donated socks to be distributed to the homeless community in Upper Manhattan. We decided to ask a little more of our fellow Parkies and our community by asking for donations of not only socks but also water, hats and snacks. After sending out an email to all Parks Department staff and relaying the message to our friends and family, we reached out to those that frequent the building to try to reach our goal of 144 packages complete with all items. We ended up surpassing our goal, receiving 172 pairs of socks, 144 hats, 160 Granola bars, and 150 bottles of water to make packages for the homeless!
The next step was determining the most effective process of distribution. We were stuck with the decision of delivering the items to various homeless centers in the district, or hitting the streets personally. After much discussion, the decision was unanimous and on Jan 17th and 18th, we began each day loading 174 care packages into the trunks of two PEP vehicles driven by officers Ortiz, Zhang, Duran and Gardino at the request of Sergeant Domingo. The officers acted as amazing facilitators when riding around the district. Their previously established relationships with the community made the process both an educational and rewarding experience. Staff were also assisted by Central Communications and Parkies from many divisions came together! The experience of participating in a service such as this was satisfying for all involved, but giving out the packages first hand, person to person, made it priceless and an experience we will remember forever.
Cynthaly Pinckney and Thomas Henry

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
"People will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Maya Angelou
(1928-2014)

Know Before You Go

Highbridge Recreation Center