Bringing Youth, Nature & Community Together
This year, we expanded our community outreach; partnering with several new groups and continuing to work with old friends. Here are our top 10 accomplishments (in no particular order):
1.) We worked on garden, forest, and trail restoration projects with 1,100 volunteers.
2.) We brought 1,600 students into the park though our Van Cortlandt Adventures Education program; Read more »
Seasonal Trails Manager will work with interns and volunteers to install check dams like these ones along the Northwest Valley Trail. Photo by Asa Aarons.
Van Cortlandt Park contains 1,146 acres of forest, wetlands, lake and open space with over 20 miles of hiking trails. In 2009, the Friends hired the New York/ New Jersey Trail Conference (NY/NJTC) to complete a Trails Plan for various hiking trails in the Park. We have begun implementing these projects over the last few years and currently have completed 7 out of 21 projects. The purpose of the Trails Plan is to ultimately make the trails more sustainable, to better serve Park users and to highlight and protect the Park’s unique natural resources. The Friends have secured funding to hire a seasonal staff person to be dedicated to implementing this plan for the next two years. Read more »
Jon Deveaux with his daughter Kim at our 20th Anniversary Celebration in October of 2012 at the Riverdale Yacht Club.
Jon Deveaux is an avid Park user, an educator who brings his students to the Park, a former (and hopefully future) FVCP Board Member, a mentor to our Executive Director, a volunteer, a Hike-a-Thon participant, a supporter, and much more. We consider ourselves very lucky to have him in our corner. Read more »
The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving. After the festivities, you might be looking for some opportunities to burn off a few calories. We would like to suggest that you considering taking a hike. Did you know that Van Cortlandt Park is 1,146 acres with approximately half of that being forested with over 20 miles of hiking trails? Van Cortlandt Park is the perfect place to hone your hiking skills while getting some exercise and taking in some beautiful scenery. Here are our favorite five trails to hike in Van Cortlandt Park. Read more »
2013 Youth Farm Stand Interns at Montefiore Hospital Stand.
It is hard to believe that this is the last week of our Youth Run Farm Stand. This year, we have a group of 5 teens working in our Youth Run Farm Stand Internship. This Read more »
1.) Volunteer! We have a tendency of saying that our volunteers rock and it’s because they do. We are very lucky to have over 1,400 people volunteer with us each year. Read more »
