News and Events

Celebrating Nichole Hollis: A Champion for Safer, Equitable Journeys to School
 

Now Hiring: Technical Assistance Manager or Senior Manager for the Safe Routes Partnership

Applications Due: November 4, 2024

Now Accepting Session Proposals Until March 4, 2024
Session Proposal Deadline EXTENDED Until March 25, 2024 11:59pm PT
 

We are entering that time of year when our lives get busy. We partake in holiday feasts and plan to connect with loved ones. In the whirlwind of these preparations, I was reminded of the importance of hitting the pause button by a very curious five-year-old whose favorite question is “why?” As I made my grocery lists and mapped out my trips to the various grocery stores, my son asked, “Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?” A straightforward response is that we use this holiday to give thanks and gratitude.

What is required for long-term change? Our Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program is all about making changes, big and small, to make park access safe, convenient, and equitable for people walking and biking. However, we know that making changes to a sidewalk or holding one community engagement meeting isn’t going to have as long-term of an effect if we don’t zoom out to see the whole system that created unsafe routes or inequities in the first place.

This year, we’re thrilled to be teaming up with four local communities in Pennsylvania to make accessing parks safe, convenient, and equitable for people walking and biking. As we celebrate National Parks and Recreation Month this July, we want to uplift this year’s theme, “where community grows” from our partners at the National Recreation and Parks Association by sharing a couple of highlights from our Safe Routes to Parks Pennsylvania Activating Communities.

In 1969, the Nixon Administration hosted the first ever White House Conference on Hunger, and it resulted in the creation of the school lunch program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). In September 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration held the first White House Conference on Hunger since that initial conference over fifty years ago and established ambitious, yet attainable goals.

Juneteenth was originally celebrated in Galveston Texas, on June 19, 1866. It marked the first anniversary of the day that African Americans there first learned of the Emancipation Proclamation, more than two years after it was initially issued.