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Volunteer Phoenix program reports thousands of hours and new stewardship gains
Summary
Parks staff reported Volunteer Phoenix and My Phoenix, My Park engaged thousands of volunteers: in 2025 about 8,800 volunteers contributed roughly 60,000 hours (estimated $2.1M impact), and in April 2026 volunteers donated nearly 7,000 hours supporting tree plantings, habitat restoration and stewardship.
Parks department staff briefed the board on Volunteer Phoenix and the My Phoenix, My Park volunteer programs, highlighting partnerships, steward training and recent outcomes.
Volunteer coordinator Jana Kerchef told the board the department works with partners including Keep Phoenix Beautiful and Hands‑On Greater Phoenix to match volunteers with coaching roles, park stewardship, tree plantings and cleanup events. Kerchef said the park‑steward program has 461 active stewards who contributed thousands of maintenance and patrol hours last year: staff cited ~3,800 hours of trail work, ~475 hours of cleanups, ~1,800 hours of bike patrol covering more than 10,000 miles, and other stewardship activities.
Kerchef highlighted April 2026 as a peak month for volunteer activity: about 1,700 volunteers participated in more than 20 events, planting 250 trees, installing 700+ pollinator and native plants and removing what staff described as 550 gallon bags of trash (about 6,000 pounds). For 2025, staff reported roughly 8,800 volunteers contributed about 60,000 hours of service, which the department estimated as a $2.1 million labor impact.
Board members asked about ongoing demand, summer limitations due to heat, and training. Staff said coaches receive certification through the National Alliance for Youth Sports, park stewards receive about 40 hours of hands‑on training with rangers before independent patrols, and adopt‑a‑park groups get an initial site orientation.
Why it matters: Volunteers extend department capacity across 189 parks and 40,000+ acres of preserved lands, enabling maintenance, education and community programming while reducing labor costs.
Next steps: Staff encouraged continued coordination with Volunteer Phoenix to place volunteers for indoor summer opportunities and said they will continue reporting stewardship metrics to the board.
