Parks & Rec Provides Invaluable Services to Community

In most communities across the United States, public administrators dealing with budget cut after budget cut, trying to decide which service to pull out of their community. Many of these times, the first services to be eliminated or reduced are the park operations and recreation facilities and programs. In today's world, as more of our parklands disappear and our recreation facilities are shuttered, we have to take a moment to remember the true value behind these services. While the professionals provide a kind of life-saving service to their community, it's often overlooked in today's society. 

A colleague of mine, Scott Andrews, Recreation Supervisor for the City of Temple Terrace, passed along to me an article he authored titled "The Value of Parks & Recreation." With his permission, I've reprinted here for the Dunedin Patch readers. Please leave your comments in the section at the end.

     As leaders in the field of Parks and Recreation we find ourselves in trying financial times. Now, more than ever it is critical to explain the significance of our role in the community. The current fiscal year looks to be very similar to our previous one. We need to work diligently to put our profession in the right meetings, involved in meaningful conversations. We are part of the solution, rather than the problem. As professionals in our industry we are committed to our mission: to advance parks, recreation and conservation efforts that advance the quality of life for people. We have the spaces and places that our community uses to connect to one another, and to nature. The question is do our citizens know the true impact we have on the community. Do our council members know the plethora of benefits that Parks and Recreation provides both directly, and indirectly?

      When the mayor drives by a vacant park at 9 a.m. does he assume it goes unused? Is he aware that it is a meet up spot for the local running club just hours before? Do the candidates for your city council know that the only reason two young girls can tell the tale of swimming in our pool, is because your diligent life guards were ready when disaster struck. Do your local Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce members know the economic impact that your softball tournament had on the community? We affect so many aspects of life; health, youth, crime, economics, and quality of life. We must unite with one voice, a loud voice, so we are heard over all of the other background noise.

     The idea of Parks and Recreation often conjures of images of a youth sports coach. This is something we are known for, but coaching is far more than teaching a sport. Our coaches serve our youth as mentors, and community ambassadors. In addition to teaching the X’s and O’s of sports they teach the fundamentals of life. These individuals volunteer their time and serve as an extension of the family in some cases. Coaches teach values, principles, sportsmanship, discipline, and what it means to be right and wrong. The role of a coach can develop into a mentor and mentee relationship. Coaches can aid fragmented families, serving as another voice of reason when the adolescent doesn’t want to listen to their mom or dad, and sometimes the other way around.       

      Some will say that Parks and Recreation is not rocket science. I would agree; it is much more than that. Rocket science is the study of engineering, mathematics, and science. Parks and Recreation involves all of these principles in addition to sociology, psychology, planning, and politics. Each day we uncover new evidence of the enormous potential of parks to help meet many of our most urgent community challenges. Whether you are a director in front of the council dais, or on the work crew preparing a soccer field; we are all working towards the same goals. Reducing the rising obesity rates among children, declining fitness levels, homelessness, fragmented communities, escalating crime, and an extreme disconnect with nature and the outdoors. We can all help supply the answers to many of these problems for our community.

      Each of us, whether we wear a shirt and tie, a polo shirt and shorts, or a yellow safety vest, play a role in improving the lives of others. We are public servants; we help people in need, make the world safer and cleaner, help children learn and prosper. The statement “if you build it, they will come” is not necessarily true. It takes an entire team to make our special events, truly special. Park employees pick up the trash many leave behind and mow the grass so that a resident’s next trip to a park is just as enjoyable as their last. This ability to be selfless, and to be open to the needs and values of the community, is a part of each of us and we should use the same dedication to promote our profession. Our Parks and Recreation employees are not nameless, faceless bureaucrats living in faraway places. They are your neighbors, and your friends. They sit next to you in your place of worship. They have families. They are the customers in your businesses and the volunteers in your favorite organizations. They are fellow citizens of our community and it is their honor and passion to serve you.  They do not grow rich in doing so, as many of their counterparts in the private sector, but they serve you well and deserve your respect.

      Parks and Recreation employees will continue being an asset in your community. When you think of essential services and what it means to have a high quality of life, remember the fields your family plays in, the coaches that make your children light up, and most of all, remember the dedicated employees that make this all happen behind the scenes. Please spread this message to the leaders in your community, and remember: It Starts in Parks!