Giving Tuesday is more than a day, it’s a movement!
I can’t believe another year is behind us here at The Parklands of Floyds Fork. And what a year it has been!
We opened Broad Run Park in April, The Strand in September, and we have already recorded more than 2 million visits to our parks this year. The dedication and passion of our community drives us forward each year, and we can’t wait for 2017- a year that will bring the opening of our new Silo Center Bike Park, and our first full year as a fully-open park system. The popularity of The Parklands is a direct reflection of you, the people who have taken ownership of this park through active visitation, donations and helping to spread the word about our offerings. We hope you are as proud as we are of all that has been accomplished to date.
I wanted to take a brief moment to say thank you and to reflect on the power of this project today, on a day dedicated to giving back to causes you believe in that positively impact your life. Today we celebrate you and we hope you will join us on Facebook as we share a different Member’s story each hour.
The below image shows some of our Member stories we’ll share today. They demonstrate some of our core benefits:
- Building a Community and Bringing People Together
- Sustaining the Environment
- Increasing Scientific Literacy through Dynamic Outdoor Education
- Providing Recreational Opportunities
- Encouraging Active, Healthy Lifestyles
- Promoting our Local Economy through Contributing to a Higher Quality of Life
These stories are evidence of the power of parks and the meaning they have in our lives. We hope you have a story you’d like to share too, and that you’ll consider doing so at this link or in the comments section on Facebook. Also, if these stories inspire you to want to give back by becoming a Member, we hope you’ll do so today by participating in the #GivingTuesday movement.
For us, Giving Tuesday is about more than giving charitably, it’s about giving of yourself and sharing why. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us and why not look to the future and what we hope to achieve in our lives and those of others. Together we can make this the best Giving Tuesday yet!
To learn more about Membership or to give the gift of Membership visit www.TheParklands.org/Member.
About the Author
Ellen Doolittle Oost
Ellen has been the Director of Development at 21st Century Parks since April of 2015. In this role she oversees fundraising functions for The Parklands, including the annual fund/membership campaign, corporate sponsorships, supporting the Board of Directors, leading major fundraising events, and seeking grant and foundational support. It’s her goal to create multiple compelling opportunities for donors to support The Parklands, a donor-supported public park that does not receive tax dollar support on an annual basis but has four world-class parks free and open to the public 365 days a year.
Although fairly new to this role, Ellen is intimately familiar with The Parklands as she spent the previous 3 years as the Communications Manager in charge of public relations, social media, community outreach and marketing for the parks. Before joining 21st Century Parks she spent three years with Louisville-based advertising agency Doe-Anderson. Her background also includes marketing and account service roles at Anheuser-Busch InBev, PriceWeber advertising agency, and direct mail marketing at Traffic Builders, Inc. Ellen is a graduate of Marietta College where she studied advertising, public relations and marketing and played volleyball. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, camping, and traveling with her two mutts and her husband Andrew.