Did you know Denton’s park system includes about 6,000 acres of parkland? That is a lot of natural area for the City of Denton Parks and Recreation Department to manage. Thankfully they have friends like the Denton Parks Foundation — a 501c3 nonprofit founded in 1987 — to help them with their charge.
“It’s our mission to engage the Denton community to enhance the mission of Denton Parks and Recreation Department — to unite, grow, and play,” explains Brooke Moore, executive director of the Denton Parks Foundation. “How do we do that? We do it through investments, through advocacy, and through volunteerism.”
Funding Signature Projects
Moore says one of the ways Denton Parks Foundation assists the Parks and Recreation Department is by raising funds for park projects. “(We) try to fill in that gap that exists between what we want and what we’ve got,” she explains.
The Foundation does this through fundraising and grants. For example, the Foundation has helped fund a variety of signature projects such as Cross Timbers Park and Wiggly Field Dog Park. And the Foundation partnered with various entities to build the “sprayground” at Carl Gene Young Sr. Park.
The Denton Parks Foundation is currently looking for sponsors for the North Lakes Disc Golf. “It’s actually one of the largest growing sports right now,” Moore says. “Participation increased during 2020 by 30%, which is not surprising considering it’s free and outdoors.”
And the Foundation is currently raising funds to add additional amenities to the North Lakes Dog Park.
“If we learned anything in the pandemic was how important it was to get outside and how important a role our parks play in that,” Moore says. “Less than 50% of our residents have access to a park within a 10-minute walk. And when you’re within a 10-minute walk, it can increase your lifespan, it can increase your mental health — it’s important that we all have that access to a safe, equitable park. The impact that you invest into parks, you benefit from directly — we all do. And so that’s really the value of what we bring to the table.”
Recreation Scholarships
In addition to helping improve parks, Moore says the Foundation also uses the money it raises to provide scholarships to Denton community members for recreation programs.
“Any City of Denton resident can apply for a scholarship to get access to a class, it could be anything from basket weaving to basketball, and we provide half the cost,” Moore explains. “So if a class was $30, we would give you a $15 scholarship to cover half of it.”
Moore says anyone can apply at any of Denton’s recreation centers and can find out immediately if they’re applicable or not. “It’s self-declared and it’s based on the income,” she says. “And so any family that is automatically qualifying for free or reduced lunch qualifies for one of these.”
Additionally, the Foundation provides full scholarships for some of the camps offered through the Parks & Recreation Department. “We work with the camp counselors to find 20 kids that need full coverage for a week for spring break, for summer camp, or any of these random days that they have off (but parents may not have off), so we can provide full coverage for families that really need it the most,” Moore says.
Moore also points out these scholarships are not just for kids — they can also be used for programs at Denton’s senior centers. “We actually do give a number of senior center scholarships or stipends because they’re on a fixed income and maybe they want more than just being able to go in, but really being able to access some of the services that they have at the senior center,” she adds.
A Brew for Better Parks
Although anyone can donate to the Denton Parks Foundation to help with signature projects and scholarships, the organization also holds its own fundraisers. One such is their A Brew for Better Parks campaign.
The Foundation and the Denton Parks & Recreation Department teamed up with Denton County Brewing Company to develop its own craft beer called Triple Play. “The name kind of represents that not only are triple plays very rare in baseball in general, but so are collaborations among three different entities, like a nonprofit, a government, and then a business,” Moore explains.
For every pint sold, all Denton area businesses that sell the brew — which Moore playfully refers to as her “monkey bars” — $1 is donated back to the Foundation. Moore says they estimate annual sales of the beer would generate about $25,000 in extra funds for the Foundation.
“It’s been really amazing,” Moore says. “We’ve been able to develop some offshoots with different flavors. We even had it canned and it’s been at a number of chamber events and ribbon cuttings.”
Dog Days of Denton
And one of the Denton Park Foundation’s signature events for the year is coming up in just a few weeks. The 28th annual Dog Days of Denton event will take place Saturday, September 10th from 9 am to 2 pm at both Quakertown Park and the Civic Center Pool.
Moore says the event offerings at Quakertown Park are free for the public and will include lots of different activities for people and their pets. For example, attendees can enter their canine companions into a variety of stage contests, including dog singing, a costume contest, dog look-alikes, and even take part in a game of “musical sit.”
“Last year, we had what we called a “ball room” — it was essentially a large fenced-off area filled with giant balls and tennis balls,” Moore says. “People could grab them and just kind of play with their dog, so it’s almost like a pop-up dog park. This year we’re gonna have two of them — one for large dogs and one for little dogs.”
Moore expects they’ll have even more than the 45 vendors they had last year, selling everything from dog-related merchandise to human food.
Then for people who want to give their dogs a chance to splash around in the Civic Center Pool, they can purchase a V.I.Paw ticket for access to the official pool party. Registration is for one person with one or two dogs and includes a commemorative T-shirt, sWAG bag of goodies, and a Triple Play beer and access to the Triple Play Beer Garden for attendees 21 and over.
For such a large event, Moore says they will need about 150 community volunteers for it to run smoothly. Volunteer tasks range from helping out at registration, being a “bouncer” for the “ball room” or pool, and assisting with stage contests. Moore urges those interested in helping out to sign up online.
And Moore invites everyone to attend Dog Days of Denton — whether they have a dog or not. “It’s the best dog party in town,” she says. “It’s a lot of fun to bark in the park with other like-minded individuals. And you don’t even have to have your dog there. A number of people actually don’t bring their dog and they just go and they learn from vendors or from some of our programming.”
Dog Days of Denton takes place Saturday, September 10th from 9 am to 2 pm at Quakertown Park and the Civic Center Pool. More information and to purchase V.I.Paw tickets. To volunteer at the event.
For more information on the Denton Parks Foundation, visit dentonparksfoundation.org or follow them on Facebook or Instagram.