Earth Day, Love Modesto festivities give residents chance to learn, volunteer

Whether you want to learn more about recycling or volunteer to clean up your neighborhood, residents can choose from a long list of events and activities Saturday in the Modesto area.

The 26th annual Earth Day in the Park Festival is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Graceada Park at Sycamore and Needham streets in Modesto. The festival will feature a variety of vendor booths, earth-friendly products, services and resources, along with free entertainment for families.

Attendees at the festival can learn more about local residents and their recycling projects, view the trash formation art contest, drop off paperwork for free shredding or electronic waste. There also will be free StaRT bus transportation to and from the park every 20 minutes.

Admission will be free on Saturday and Sunday at Yosemite National Park to celebrate Earth Day and National Junior Ranger Day. Visitors will still have to pay camping fees and all other fees. The park will host an Earth Day Celebration and Junior Ranger Exploration Fair among other activities scheduled Saturday.

For others who want to roll up their sleeves and improve their neighborhoods Saturday, Love Modesto organizers are seeking more than 5,000 volunteers to help with more than 90 cleanup and improvement projects throughout the city. So far, about 3,600 volunteers have signed up, but organizers expect that number to climb by the end of the week.

Last year, Love Modesto had 60 projects and more than 4,000 volunteers in its annual day of community service. More work needs to be done this year. “It’s just a lot of people taking ownership of their community,” said Jeff Pishney, executive director of the Love Modesto nonprofit group.

Volunteers also are needed for similar cleanup and improvement projects Saturday in other cities in Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties. Those cities include Ceres, Hickman, Hughson, Newman, Oakdale, Patterson, Riverbank, Salida, Merced, Delhi, Livingston, Los Banos, Winton, Escalon, Manteca and Ripon.

In Modesto, volunteers will first rally at 8 a.m. Saturday at downtown’s I and 10th streets. Organizers provide free food and refreshments as they get volunteers ready for their improvement projects. “It’s just an electric atmosphere,” Pishney said about the rally.

This year, Love Modesto is working closely with city officials on cleanup projects at all 75 city parks. Volunteers, for instance, will be raking leaves, pulling weeds and wiping off graffiti from playground equipment. “Whatever needs to be done, we’re gonna do,” Pishney said about the parks cleanup.

About 300 volunteers are needed to help with the parks projects, and Pishney said there were still about 120 spots available.

Love Modesto also is creating more projects that are kid-friendly, where the entire family can work together for a good cause. One of those projects is Blessings in a Backpack. The local chapter of a nationwide effort identifies needy children who might not have enough food at home to get them through the weekend, so volunteers will stuff bags with donated food.

Another project that still needs volunteers in Modesto is the Tuolumne River Cleanup. Pishney said this project has quickly filled up with volunteers in previous years, but there were 58 spots still available Monday. He said the change in interest this year could be the result of having so many other projects to choose from.

This story was originally published April 13, 2015 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Earth Day, Love Modesto festivities give residents chance to learn, volunteer."