Hollister residents who have been helping the city plan the
Southeast neighborhood park for almost a year, have recently formed
a nonprofit organization to raise money for park equipment and
guarantee the park’s upkeep and usability in coming years.
Hollister residents who have been helping the city plan the Southeast neighborhood park for almost a year, have recently formed a nonprofit organization to raise money for park equipment and guarantee the park’s upkeep and usability in coming years.
The “Friends of Southeast Park” formed in mid-February when about seven residents in the southeast residential area of the city decided to form an official group to represent the park, said Adam Bluett, the organization’s president.
“We want to take ownership of that park,” Bluett said. “If it’s not being kept up, we want to be an active group that can take that voice to the city government.”
The group formed an official nonprofit organization to safeguard the park’s condition well into the future.
They allied with the Community Foundation of San Benito County, a nonprofit umbrella organization for groups such as the Paicines Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and several others, to build an administrative foundation for future projects in the park.
Then they began a fund-raising campaign to purchase a shade structure for the park, because the city’s plan didn’t include any kind of substantial covering for park users.
“Our primary concern is that we’re going to have this park costing half a million dollars, and there’s going to be lots of moms and strollers and small children and no way to hide out from the sun,” Bluett said. “We don’t care (what it looks like), we just need shade there.”
City civil engineer David Rubcic, who has been working on the park, is pleased with the organization’s input and ideas for the park’s features, he said.
While there isn’t direct involvement between the city and the group, the entities working together will eventually create something both sides can be proud of, he said.
The group, which meets once a week in one of the member’s homes, has been asking local businesses for donations to the shade structure. Businesses such as Plaza Car Wash, Graniterock and Papa Murphy’s have given verbal agreements for donations, Bluett said.
The group has yet to accrue any funding, but is confident they will reach their goal of being able to implement the structure.
They also plan to canvass the 800 homes in the southeast residential development soon to ask for more donations, he said.
“There is a wide sphere of influence that this park will have. It will be an open park to all of Hollister,” Bluett said. “The neighborhood needs to get involved.”
Without the community’s continual involvement, the hard work the city and the community has already done could be wasted, Bluett said.
“We want to provide cleanup, a neighborhood watch and get direct involvement of neighbors,” he said. “We want to be a friend to that park in perpetuity.”
Anyone interested is encouraged to become a member of the Friends of Southeast Park, whether they live in the vicinity of the park or not. For more information, visit www.homepage.mac.com/jleibold/southeast_park.
