Volunteer New York! and the City of New Rochelle Parks and Recreation department teamed up once again for Earth Day and to host their annual Volunteer New Rochelle! Day of Service Clean-up on Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25 which was expanded this year from three clean-up sites to eleven neighborhood and waterfront sites across the city of New Rochelle.

Over the clean-up weekend 350 volunteers took action in rain and sunshine to remove over 130 bags of trash from 11 parks and collected several yards of dangerous debris from trails and playgrounds, giving back in total over 500 hours of service to the City of New Rochelle. Volunteers also helped to re-chip trails, restore and stain park benches and picnic tables, scrape down the Neptune Park pavilion, remove graffiti, and more.

“Our parks and natural resources are utilized all year long and have been especially valuable during the dark months of the pandemic,” noted Parks and Recreation Commissioner Bill Zimmermann. “We’re proud to see the way local New Rochelle residents were the ones to show up to support their neighborhood parks this year and lead these clean-up efforts. Creating that connection of responsibility to where you live and the public spaces you use was one of goals of expanding the scope of year’s day of service.” 

The 2021 New Rochelle Parks Cleanup Day is just one of a number of volunteer opportunities showcased through Volunteer New Rochelle!, a program partnership with Volunteer New York! which began in 2016 and offers residents year-round opportunities to support New Rochelle nonprofits and take action locally. Details can be found on the Volunteer New Rochelle! page of Volunteer New York!’s website at volunteernewyork.com/newrochelle or by calling 914-948-4452. Those interested in becoming volunteers can also reach out to speak with a free volunteer placement specialist at any time.

Volunteer New York! Executive Director, Jeanette Gisbert said, "We’re grateful to the City of New Rochelle for valuing the role volunteerism can play to build stronger, more resilient communities, while bringing people closer. New Rochelle is an example for every city in the Hudson Valley to look to when it comes to building sustainable and meaningful volunteer engagement programs.”

IMPACT/RESULTS VISUALIZATION OF WEEKEND CLEANUP Click to download .PDF version of map