The points are in: Wilcox Park Wins 'Park Makeover', Riverside Park and Cherry Park are runners-up

The City of GR's first-ever myGRcitypoints campaign -- sponsored by the City of Grand Rapids as part of the Parks Alive program with the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks -- was an amazing success. Thousands of participants contributed over 4 million points to their favorite City-owned parks. The park that received the most points -- Wilcox Park, with 962,601 points -- earned a Park Makeover valued at up to $50,000. The two runners-up, Riverside Park at 642,838 points and Cherry Park at 600,866 points, earned Park Spruce-ups valued at up to $10,000. 
 
The prize money was provided by the City of Grand Rapids from its existing parks budget. "The money was going to be spent on parks anyway, but now it's going to be distributed, essentially, how citizens say they want it distributed," says Jasmine Olsen, program coordinator.
 
Next step: City residents will select which improvements will be made to the park using the awards. Improvements will be made during events at each park starting in the summer of 2013. To continue encouraging individuals to earn points by volunteering, the City is offering points for participating in the upgrade work at the three parks.
 
"The City is excited to see the high level of excitement and engagement resulting from mygrcitypoints' Park Makeover contest," says Grand Rapids City Manager, Greg Sundstrom. "The City is committed to engaging citizens to improve our green spaces. Citizens will help choose the parks' improvements and, working with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, volunteers will help make the improvements.
 
"Community involvement is what makes Grand Rapids a great place to live."
 
The myGRcitypoints program was introduced two years ago as a way for individuals and businesses to connect. Individuals earn points through recycling and volunteering, and the points can be redeemed at local businesses for discounts on products and services.


Get involved:
 
- Visit myGRcitypoints online to find out more info.
- Sign up to start earning points.
- Volunteer to earn points.
-Like myGRcitypoints on Facebook 
-Follow myGRcitypoints on Twitter.
 
Source: Craig Clark, Clark Communications
Writer: Victoria Mullen, Do Good Editor