We wanted to give you a quick update on happenings in the Park. We are gearing up for a busy Spring, and hope you'll join us at some of our activities in 2019!
Helping Hands during the Government Shutdown
We thank our great Friends, both known and unknown to us, who emptied trash, cleaned up broken light globes, and let us know about other issues in the Park! The Park Service is back at work, and doing their best to get all the National Parks back in good working order.
We did not send out a call for assistance during the Shutdown, because there would be insurance issues if we officially worked in the Park during the Shutdown period. The Park Service instituted a new type of in-kind service agreement that can be used if there are future shutdowns and outside insurance can be provided. While we hope we don't have to endure future shutdowns, we will look into what we can do in the future should one occur.
Spring Activities
Our big event this Spring is our annual Titanic Day of Service on April 13, 2019, the Saturday closest to the date the Titanic sank. We’ll touch up the benches and plant flowers in the planters, and more! We already have this event and other Spring activities listed on our Events page. Feel free to sign up early!
If you want to join the City Nature Challenge in April, it’s not too early to get familiar with iNaturalist! Here are a few things you can do any time between now and April:
- Sign up with iNaturalist and download the iNaturalist app
- Join the City Nature Challenge - DC project on iNaturalist
- Practice taking photos of naturally occurring plants and animals and posting them in iNaturalist. Jump right in, or look at their online tutorials
2018 Donation Letters
Did you give to the Friends in 2018, and wonder where your donation letter is? We haven't forgotten, it is coming soon! The Southwest Neighborhood Assembly (SWNA) our fiscal sponsor, has recently hired an accountant to make sure their books are in order and donation letters are sent out properly. The timing of that hire has delayed the donation letters beyond January 31. SWNA is working to get them out in the near future.
Thanks for your continued support!