Post updated August 8, 2010 –

A group of Kent residents and dog owners are pitching in to create a dog park on the East Hill between Morrill Meadows Park and East Hill Park on 248th. Though volunteers have helped to clear the blackberry bushes to get the park dog-ready, there is much more work to be done. Funding is also needed. You can help make this dream a reality. Here’s how you can help:

• Purchase and donate fencing at Home Depot ($45 a roll; volunteers can pick it up, if needed).
• Purchase a plaque on behalf of your dog for $102. Half pays for the plaque; the other half goes toward the dog park.
• Buy a bench for $500 (4 are needed).
• Purchase a garbage can for $350 (2 are needed).
• Monetary donations are always helpful.

For more information or to make a donation, call volunteer Michelle McDowell at 253-639-0124 or visit DogPark online.

In kind donations such as fencing and other items needed for the park can also be donated. Contact Brian Levenhagen, parks planning and development manager to see if the materials you want to donate meet city standards.

From the City of Kent:

Thousands are expected to attend Kent’s annual 4^th of July Splash and evening fireworks celebration at Lake Meridian Park.  But other parks get heavy use over the holiday weekend, too. The result is debris from unauthorized fireworks littering the parking lots and grounds.

So, neighbors, families, scouts and other volunteers are invited to donate an hour or two between 9:00-11:00 a.m. on Monday, July 5^th, to help clean up one of the hardest-hit parks.  The select parks are West Hill Park and West Fenwick Park on the west hill and Morrill Meadows Park and North Meridian Park on the east hill.

“We encourage volunteers to work together to ‘be green’ and keep recycling separate from trash,” said Parks Director Jeff Watling.  Trash bags will be dropped off at each park site for volunteers to use and maintenance staff will pick up full bags afterwards.  A Parks staff member will travel to each site, beginning on the west hill from 9-10 and moving to the other parks for the last hour.

Registration forms are available at www.KentWAParks.com, click on Volunteer, or call 253-856-5110.  Registration is encouraged by July 1 to give staff an idea of community interest.