Kids Ecology Corps & City of Oakland Park partner to create urban green space & wildlife sanctuary

June 16, 2009 - PRLog -- The City of Oakland Park celebrated Earth Day on April 21 with students from Oakland Park Elementary School by introducing them and members of the community to the recently completed outdoor nature center.  Earlier this year, volunteers from The Kids Ecology Corps and the staff and members of the community of the City of Oakland Park began work on this outdoor learning center on NE 33rd Street, with a grant from Broward Beautiful, awarded in September of 2008.  

The Broward Beautiful Grant awarded $7,499 to the Kids Ecology Corps to create this multi-purpose community green space.  Working closely together, The Kids Ecology Corps and The City of Oakland Park were able to successfully collaborate and leverage the grant money with contributions and in-kind donations from both organizations, to complete a $13,000 project for almost half of the cost.  Wildlife-friendly trees, shrubs and plants were chosen for the space, with volunteer support from The Kids Ecology Corps and site preparation and horticultural expertise from The City of Oakland Park.

The new outdoor nature center will serve many functions: as a pleasant garden for participants at the Adult Learning Center, as an outdoor learning space for local schoolchildren and a wildlife-attracting habitat for migrating birds and butterflies.  Emily Lagerquist, Executive Director of The Kids Ecology Corps, explains how the non-profit children’s group hopes to further the education of local disadvantaged children with this new space.  “Being able to use this recently created outdoor learning center for school field trips is a wonderful way for these school children to learn first-hand about native plants and the value they provide in creating local habitats.”  Lagerquist continued, “It gives our staff at The Kids Ecology Corps a venue to show how important these small green spaces are in creating habitat-friendly places for wildlife in an urban environment.”

The Kids Ecology Corps is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization whose mission is to inspire young people to make environmental action part of their everyday lives and in the lives of those around them.  KEC has reached over 70,000 young people from pre-k through high school, offering unique hands-on presentations and eco-action programs that educate children and youth about: keeping our oceans clean; the importance of trees; the role re-planting our coastal wetlands play in beach conservation; water conservation; pollution prevention; global climate change and energy conservation; and, protecting local natural habitats for native wildlife.  Visit them at www.kidsecologycorps.org or contact The Kids Ecology Corps at kec@kidsecologycorps.org . The KEC team can be reached at Tel.: 954-524-0366 to volunteer or to schedule an education or eco-action presentation at your school.