July is Parks & Rec Month

July is Park and Recreation Month. We want to highlight the stories of how our community is stronger, more vibrant, and more resilient because of parks and recreation.

During Park and Recreation Month, NRPA is encouraging park and recreation agencies to showcase the stories, memories, and experiences their community members create in their local parks and recreation.

Parks are at the center of so many experiences and memories — moments that park and recreation professionals help make happen. Our local parks are often our first experiences in nature, our introduction to a favorite hobby, or physical activity. They are places to gather with friends and family, spaces to celebrate life’s special moments, spots of respite and healing, sites that connect us with essential community services and so much more.

Local parks have been essential throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with many of our community members finding a new appreciation for the essential spaces we manage and the vital programs we provide. This year for Park and Recreation Month, we want to hear our community’s stories about what their local parks and recreation mean to them.

Since 1985, people in the United States have celebrated Park and Recreation Month in July to promote building strong, vibrant, and resilient communities through the power of parks and recreation, and to recognize the more than 160,000 full-time park and recreation professionals, along with hundreds of thousands of part-time and seasonal workers and volunteers, that maintain our country’s local, state, and community parks.

Through efforts by NRPA, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an official resolution for Park and Recreation Month in 2009 and introduced the resolution in 2017 and 2018.

The services that park and recreation professionals provide are vital for our communities, from protecting open space and natural resources to helping fight obesity and providing activities and resources for all people. This has been especially true throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Park and Recreation Month encourages everyone to reflect on the exponential value park and recreation professionals bring to communities.