By JENNIFER MORRISSEY
For the second consecutive year, the Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP) Foundation will participate in California Clean Air Day, a statewide initiative that calls on California residents and institutions to help improve air quality and protect public health.
Many come to Mission Trails Regional Park to enjoy the fresh air and beautiful views, but San Diego is, in fact, one of the most ozone-polluted cities in the state. To help clean our air and breathe fresh air, we invite you to join us in taking the Clean Air Pledge. The initiative outlines ways we that we can help improve air quality in our everyday life, from changing air filters and idling our cars less to switching to electric yard tools and planting trees.
For Clean Air Day 2020, the MTRP Foundation created a short video about the types of trees at Mission Trails to both educate about native plants but also encourage residents to bring more trees and large shrubs into their yards. A second video is a tutorial on how to best plant trees. The videos’ host is MTRP Ranger Heidi Gutknecht, who shares characteristics about the trees, which trees can be grown at home, and demonstrates how trees should be planted. And, of course, Heidi shares information about how crucially important trees are to air quality. Links to the films and the Clean Air Pledge are on the homepage of the MTRP website: mtrp.org. We are grateful to the Coalition for Clean Air and SDG&E for grant funding to create the videos.
After watching the videos, our hope is that YOU will be inspired to plant trees, whether native, ornamental, or fruit trees. Also on our website, we have links to a host of resources about trees and air quality, planting and maintaining trees, and local nurseries that carry California native plants. However, our friends at SDG&E are currently offering FREE trees to San Diego County households, and a link to their tree program is included in the Clean Air Day content on our website.
Camp hosts for Kumeyaay Lake Campground needed
Volunteer campground hosts at Mission Trails’ Kumeyaay Lake Campground (KLC) play an active role in the care and maintenance of KLC as well as provide visitors with park information, assist park staff with opening and closing procedures, and help create a welcoming environment for campers. Camp host duties include litter pickup, routine restroom upkeep and general campground cleaning. Even off duty or at inconvenient times, hosts are expected to log unusual activity, assess situations, and provide assistance when needed. In exchange for an RV site with full hookups, each camp host provides 20 hours of volunteer service each week, primarily on weekends (Friday through Sunday and certain Monday holidays) when the campground is open. For more information about this opportunity, see the homepage of the MTRP website. Applications are due Oct. 1.
Target Circle votes to benefit Mission Trails
We are honored and excited to announce that the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation has been chosen to participate in a special charitable giving campaign, sponsored and funded by Target. Through the retailer’s Target Circle Program, you can help direct a portion of Target’s local support to benefit Mission Trails.
Now through Sept. 30, use your Target Circle credits to vote for the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation. The more votes we receive, the larger the donation to support MTRP.
The voting began in July, and we have so far received votes from more than 14,500 Target Circle members! That’s a lot of MTRP love, but we have strong competition so need your votes before Sept. 30. You can find out more about Target Circle at www.target.com/circle.
— Jennifer Morrissey is executive director of the Mission trails regional Park Foundation.
