Featured Mini-Grantee | Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park

Outdoor Programs for Jersey City Residents

Boyd McGuiness Park – is deemed by its advocates as the “Best Little Park in Town”– is an oasis for seniors and children. The newly renovated two-acre park at the corner of Duncan Ave and Kennedy Boulevard has doubled in size over the past few years.

The Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park provide a broad range of accessible recreation activities for the community. The list includes a children’s playground, a splash-pad, checkers/chess tables, community raised garden boxes, the Little Free Library (free community book sharing), Summer Movies in the Park, and community park cleanup events.

A member of the citywide Jersey City Parks Coalition, the Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park is one of 29 city community groups dedicated to developing a more sustainable urban environment. They understand the need for open space that allows residents to recuperate from the stresses and strains of urban life, and the importance of taking steps to combat the depletion of Jersey City’s tree canopy.

HealthierJC + Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park

For the Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park, building a Culture of Health means maintaining their neighborhood park – keeping it clean and safe for Jersey City residents and visitors.

The Friends of Boyd-McGuiness Park program closely aligns with the HealthierJC mission to expand access to open space, provide quality education, promote fellowship, respect the environment, and build future community leaders. In awarding the mini-grant, HealthierJC acknowledged the multi-year contribution of Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park in advancing a Culture of Health in Jersey City.

Results

With the HealthierJC mini-grant, combined with funds awarded by the Jersey City Economic Development Corp (JCEDC), the Friends of Boyd-McGuiness Park held a total of 30 events for over 250 Jersey City residents of Ward B. These predominately-outdoor neighborhood events took place before and after the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.

In summary, HealthierJC and JCEDC support enabled the Friends of Boyd-McGuiness Park to:

Host free Yoga and community activities.
Employ 7 college students during the pandemic.
Distribute free COVID-19 PPE.
Buy garden and activity supplies.

Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park Events – Pre-Covid Highlights

Hosted free yoga classes, purchased 20 child yoga mats and, conducted a “design your own yoga mat” activity.
Conducted Environmental Workshops for children featuring endangered species, park personnel read passages from purchased and distributed book “Axol & Friends” by Jonathan RL Grosso, a local Jersey City author. They also distributed promotional toys from the book.
Hosted Movies in the Park, and a Jersey City Art and Studio Tour (JCAST) event in conjunction with Jersey City Cultural Affairs Office.

2020 Post-Covid Highlights

Early 2020, social distancing guidelines and general uncertainty about the virus put yoga in the park and most planned group activities on hold. Programming resumed in the summer of 2020 and included:

An art exhibit by the Black Lives Matter Network and a JCAST art event.
Distribution of free pandemic PPE donated by HealthierJC. – Boyd was a stellar covid partner!
Free giveaways of pumpkins and composting buckets.
A Birds of Prey Free event led by the Black Rock Brook Nature Center. This event featured live owls, hawks and falcons native to NJ, and was held in Lincoln Park so attendees could comfortably adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Several community planting and gardening activities for all ages.
Employment of seven (7) college students to intern as park ambassadors to support summer/fall programming.

2021 Post-Covid Highlights

In 2021, the Friends of Boyd-McGuiness Park offered a full calendar of community events, including:

A festively decorated spring “Meet & Greet” with the Easter bunny in conjunction with a local Girl Scout troop and the Westside neighborhood association.
A series of community planting and cleanup programs.
A “How To” session on nature journaling.
The first Annual Veteran’s Remembrance event, as well as the first Annual Wreaths Across America event in honor of veterans.

Moving Forward…

For 2022, Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park planned a Senior and Family Music Program for the Summer, which included Open Mic sessions with the Jersey City Free Public Library Program called “Rena Rocks”. It is specifically designed for seniors who remained sequestered indoors throughout the pandemic.

The Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park are thankful for the HealthierJC mini-grant as it continues to provide free programming to the Jersey City community.

For more information about Friends of Boyd McGuiness Park, please visit the organization’s website at https://www.facebook.com/fobmp/