Englewood Park will have more trees and fewer invasive species after a morning of volunteer work on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Around 50 volunteers looking to spend their day off improving the community found themselves mulching, pulling ivy and planting 20 trees and shrubs.
The Northeast Neighbors Neighborhood Association hosted the event, which chair Lynn Takata said aimed to beautify the park and prepare it for more bulb plantings in the future.
“We like to do the work party in the morning so people can still go to the MLK day events honoring Dr. King in the afternoon,” she said.
The volunteers included community members and Corban University’s baseball and women’s basketball teams.
Several volunteers said they found the event while looking for ways to contribute on a day off.
Clara Lipetzky said she used to spend the holiday volunteering while in college, and wanted to do it again on Monday.
“I work at a school and I teach my students about MLK, and I think you should practice what you preach. That’s what he wanted, was a better world,” she said. “We get the day off, we’re not having to work so we might as well spend it doing good.”
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-704-0355.
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Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
