In April, the Greater Princeton Branch of AYLUS (GPA) served at the Branch Brook Park to care for its Cherry Blossom.
Cherry Blossom Festival: The park invites people to this year’s Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival in Branch Brook Park (Branch Brook Park Drive, Newark, NJ 07104). Essex County Branch Brook Park has the largest and most varied collection of Japanese Flowering Cherry Blossom trees in a park within the United States, with 5,200 in 18 varieties.
Essex County Branch Brook Park Alliance is the conservancy that tends to the full care of Branch Brook Park. With 360-acres to manage, there’s a lot of ground for our volunteers to cover–and friends for them to make!
Care of the Park powered by Jersey Cares is a legacy initiative of Branch Brook Park Alliance in partnership with the County of Essex. We are the conservancy for Branch Brook Park. While the County remains the primary steward of the park, Care of the Park aims to shine a spotlight on Essex County Branch Brook Park and by doing so; ensure that our beloved park is cared for by everyone.
Jersey Cares has developed a structure for community stewardship among a fully engaged coalition of institutions of higher learning, leading corporate and private citizens, and other stakeholders who care about Essex County Branch Brook Park. Leading the movement is a core group of well-trained Jersey Cares – Care of the Park employees who assist Essex County Parks Department with seasonal maintenance and upkeep throughout the park. Most months of the year we have teams of supervised volunteers deployed throughout the park working on a number of site-specific projects. Volunteer groups are welcome to come once or multiple times. Here are three ways to serve this opportunity.
Our flexibly scheduled volunteer opportunities allow you to sign up for volunteer projects as you are available. These projects happen on a variety of days, in the morning and early afternoon, throughout the year, flexing with the seasons and needs of the Park.
Youth, families, individuals, groups (big and small), community leaders – all are welcomed to register to volunteer with us. While many questions or concerns can be answered in our Volunteer Registration form, should you need additional assistance, please call us at (973) 969-1189 or email us at info@branchbrookpark.org.
GPA Volunteers: Chenhao Luo (4/16, 3.5 hrs), Huixian Yan (4/16, 4 hrs), and more.
