SACH Club and the Revitalization of Mariposa Park
SACH CLUB AND THE REVITALIZATION OF MARIPOSA PARK
Written by Calvin Embleton (Marketing and Communications) and Kristine Manganelli (Somerset County 4-H Coordinator)
SuMMARY
In a combined effort between Somerset County 4-H, Middle Earth, and a grant from Robert Wood Johnson’s New Jersey Health Initiatives, the Student Ambassadors for Community Health (SACH) club was able to completely revitalize a community park in Bound Brook, NJ. This was accomplished through the dedication of club members and an outpouring of support from the local community.
neighborhood revitalization • youth leadership • community outreach • fundraising • local government • street murals • art displays • group collaboration
THE CHALLENGE
To be successful as a youth-led project, SACH members needed to form a partnership with the local Bound Brook community and government. The Student Ambassadors were tasked with finding a way to reinvigorate the community through the lens of promoting health, safety, and positive change.
The team that helped support the Student Ambassadors during their project.
SACH discovered Maltex Park, a public space that had been neglected for years, located at the corner of Vosseller and West Main Street. The club decided to revitalize and refurbish the park as their community outreach project for the summer. Students believed that beautifying the park and making it functional again, would invite local residents and children to visit the space and be proud of their neighborhood. By connecting the bridge between local youth, the community, and elected officials, the voices of youth leaders are heard.
THE solution
With countless hours of hard work and collaboration, the club was able to completely refresh the park. Students renamed the park Mariposa Park (Spanish for Butterfly) to symbolize the transformation. The Student Ambassadors designed landscaping, installed a grill, benches, picnic tables, and a bilingual Free Library which encourages neighborhood children to read. The students designed and painted street murals and crosswalks to slow drivers in the area.
The Ambassadors also celebrated the community garden which allows residents to grow their own vegetables. They added a mosaic step-stone path leading to the garden entrance, herb boxes, and a vegetable stand to further enhance the space. In addition, the Ambassadors planted two peach trees and several blueberry bushes that anyone visiting the park may pick for free. They built colorful bird houses and planted native flowers to attract pollinators to the garden.
SACH members helping out with revitilization.
Furthermore, the Student Ambassadors created a “Storybook Trail” currently displayed in Billian Legion Park. Along the trail is a series of twelve 3D butterfly sculptures designed and painted live at the Bound Brook Food Truck Festival by New Jersey artists. The artists were commissioned by the students and the sculptures were sponsored by local businesses. Each butterfly features a podium containing a page of “Maria the Mariposa,” a tale about a butterfly who discovers her life’s purpose. The story was written and illustrated by the Student Ambassadors, and is provided in both English and Spanish to represent the diversity of the Bound Brook community.
The Butterfly Trial in Mariposa Park that told the tale of “Maria the Mariposa” was provided in both English and Spanish.
Leading up to the re-opening of Mariposa Park, the Student Ambassadors hosted the community with free rock painting and yoga classes in the park. They also taught classes to children at Middle Earth’s summer camp which included food tastings, seed planting, as well as painting wooden butterflies now displayed on the fence at the park. The grand re-opening celebration was attended by over 100 guests. Bound Brook mayor Robert Fazen and Somerset County Freeholder Brian Gallagher shared words of congratulations and appreciation for the Ambassadors’ hard work and contributions to the community.
SACH members during the grand re-opening of Mariposa Park.
