On January 19th, 2023, the McKinney Parks Foundation held the Annual Kick Off Celebration. This event was hosted by The Stix Icehouse and featured a local artist, Anne Royer, from The Cove, McKinney. Anne’s piece is from her Exhibition; On Landscapes: Of This and Other Worlds. The event was a low-waste event and featured almost no single use plastic.

Thank you to the City of McKinney Parks and Recreation Department, McKinney City Council, Erwin Park MTB, DORBA, The Cove, and of course The Stix Icehouse for your support with this event. Thank you President Rick Moreno, Vice President Greg Smith, Secretary Kevin Korenthal, Treasurers Emily Shao and Andy Hundson, and Communications Mary Abercrombie.

Volunteer of the Year, 2022

The McKinney Parks Foundation is proud to begin its first year in honoring a Volunteer of the Year. For 2022, we have recognized Bruce Mead as Volunteer of the Year.

Bruce is dedicated to McKinney parks. If you have been to one of our volunteer work days you most likely met Bruce. Bruce is a force of nature, always alert and present, involved and participating, and full of new ideas and energy. Bruce goes above and beyond.

Thank you, Bruce, for all your contributions!

Local Art, Native Ecoregion

Anne’s piece, pictured left, is of the Blackland Prairie and was created using sustainably harvested native plants from a Wildlife Restoration in McKinney (the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary). Anne pushes the boundaries of traditional landscape painting by employing non-traditional image-making processes. Anne’s inspiration came from efforts to preserve Texas’ Blackland Prairie, an endangered ecosystem. The various plant forms used to create these paintings are native plants and the animals included in the paintings are among the many that live here in the Blackland Prairie ecoregion.

In 2022…

The McKinney Parks Foundation had a reported 1,929 volunteer hours worked. This is valued at $55,053.66 according to the Independent Sector.

The McKinney Parks Foundation participated in a planting of 1,537 trees between Gabe Nesbitt Park, Gray Branch Community Parkland, and as a partner for Princeton at J.M. Caldwell Sr Community Park.

The McKinney Parks Foundation developed 3.2 miles of trails along Gray Branch Community Parkland.

The McKinney Parks Foundation planted wildflowers amounting to a total of 2 acres at Gray Branch Community Parkland.

The McKinney Parks Foundation has collected 2,000 gallons of litter along Wilson Creek, over the stretch of 4 miles of waterways.

2022 has brought an amazing value to McKinney Parks, our community, and our local ecosystem. We want to give a special thank you to all of our dedicated volunteers who have a keen interest in keeping McKinney Unique by Nature. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Here’s to 2023… Get Involved!

Volunteer with us! Check out the ‘Events’ tab to see upcoming Volunteer Work Days. Email us at mckinneyparksfoundation@gmail.com if you’re interested in organizing a separate Volunteer Work Day for your corporation, business, group, or club.

Attend a board meeting! Board meetings are usually the third Thursday of each month, 7:30 PM, at the Eldorado Country Club. Be sure to email Greg Smith at lg.smith2412@att.net and let us know you’ll be there. Board Meetings can move around – so subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.

Donate! We accept donations online, via check, cash, or in-kind donations. You can also check out our Amazon Wishlist. The more tools we have – the more we can serve our McKinney Parks!

Dedicate a Bench. With your donation, the McKinney Parks Foundation will place a bench in a McKinney Park with a plaque. Please see click the tab ‘Projects’ to find out more about the Memorial Bench Program.