July 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 53

climate, using a familiar face like Walton's may be a great way
to engage your community with parks and recreation. According to Jon Kirk Mukri, general manager of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, finding creative
ways to highlight the benefits of parks and recreation is increasingly important.
" We provide the most social services in the world-the
youngest child and the oldest adult all use parks and recreation, " he says. " We need to bring that into focus. " And a local
or national celebrity can be just the one who's needed to direct
his or her spotlight on a program or park.

Look in your own solar system
Working with well-known faces to promote parks and recreation doesn't always mean enlisting Hall of Famers. Many times,
someone " famous " in your community won't be known to anyone outside your own town or city. Or, it may not be a someone at all.
That was the case in Chandler, Arizona, when Information
Specialist Liam O'Mahony enlisted the help of a gorilla, a bobcat, and a cow, and had huge success. Last fall, the City of Chandler Recreation Division partnered with ShapeUpUS.org for
the city's Day of Play event. Even though Chandler hosted the
event, by bringing in a partner non-profit that had connections,
the city was able to add a " mascot Olympics " with the Phoenix
Suns Gorilla, the Arizona Diamondbacks Baxter the Bobcat, and even the Chick-Fil-A
Cow. The event drew more
than 4,000 people.
" The mascots made a
great visual story and are
such headline grabbers, "
says O'Mahony. " We didn't
have those existi ng re lationships with the pro
teams, but they were able
to come and represent our
event through the partnership with Shape Up US.org. "
Nearby spor ts tea ms
seem to be a great place
to enlist talent that believes
in recreation and will help
promote parks and sports
programming.
Los Angeles' Mukri says
that his department has regularly used pro athletes to
add some star power to a
program or park. In 2008,
the L.A. Dodgers organization committed to renovating 50 baseball fields in and

around Los Angeles as part of the club's 50th anniversary. Mukri
also worked with the soccer club Chivas USA to involve the organization in L.A. parks. Through the " Kick It in the Parks " program, the stars and coaches of the team came out to hold soccer
clinics and games for the youth of the city.
" I strongly recommend working with agencies and teams
you have around you, " says Mukri. " Do some research and focus on other organizations with a like-minded core mission. "
Lisa Bransten, manager of sponsorships and events at San
Francisco Department of Recreation and Parks, agrees that the
sports angle is a good one to take when looking for celebrity talent. Her department recently hosted a hitting clinic for kids at
the end of June with Hensley Meulens, the hitting instructor for
the San Francisco Giants.
" Since the Giants just won the World Series, anything to do
with the team is exciting, " says Bransten. " It's a great thing we can
offer to our kids in summer camp and we held it at Kimbell Field
so we could showcase that location which was recently redone. "

Basketball legend Bill Walton
with Carlsbad Parks and
Recreation staff.

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