Limestone, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Park enhancements

Description: Part of larger efforts to revitalize a public park, this project created a walking path. Volunteers installed the path, which winds around newly installed playground equipment, giving residents of all ages a space to exercise and socialize. Project organizers say they are considering ways to expand the pathway to more areas of the park in the future.

Bartlett, KS

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Park enhancements

Description: As part of the City of Bartlett's efforts to revitalize its downtown, City leaders hoped to bring residents a new outdoor space. In 2008, the local land bank donated a Main Street parcel to the city for a new park. However, a lapse in funding left many areas of the long-planned green space underused. This project added a small shelter house, picnic tables and children's playground equipment to the park. A team of local multigenerational volunteers completed the work.

Lawrence, NE

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Park enhancements

Description: The local park in Lawrence lacked places for visitors to sit. To make the park more accessible for people of all ages and abilities, the Nuckolls County Federation and Lawrence Community Fund installed park benches and ADA-compliant picnic tables near the town's swimming pool and sports fields. The improvements built on work the partners already do to provide amenities for the village, including playground equipment and trash receptacles. Now that the park is more welcoming, community members are looking into other ways to improve the space, including replacing an outdated merry-go-round.