Friends of the Parks internship update-- Mid July :)

I have been at my internship for just a few weeks now AND I LOVE IT! I could not have imagined choosing a different internship anywhere else than where I chose to intern at. I have grown close with my coworkers over the past few weeks and have learned so much from them already. They are all dedicated to their jobs more than I have ever seen anyone in the workplace and I truly admire how much work they do for the parks in Chicago. Growing up in a suburb, parks are not a huge component other than the use of them for family parties, field trips, and athletic events. Parks in Chicago are diverse and unlike any other system. They range from the small park in my neighborhood with just a playground to the world famous park Millennium Park downtown. I have gotten the opportunity to learn so much about the political system in Chicago, how non-profits run, event planning, membership relations, public policy, and data basing!

Friends of the Parks is a non-profit that promotes the advocacy of Chicago's parks. Since they are non-profit, they earn their money from membership dues and donations. They have a board of directors that helps oversee actions and also have a full office of employees. There is an Executive Director, Director of Operations, Director of Policy, Director of Neighborhood Parks and Education, and Manager of Engagement and Events. I mainly work with the Executive Director, Director of Neighborhood Parks, and Manager of Engagement and Events and was their Marketing and Communications intern and also got to work alongside two other interns that were interning for the Director of Policy.

Some of the projects I have worked on so far include:
Conducting research of alderman of the city, congressmen, senators, and other city officials as a part of our honorary list that will be attending our 40th anniversary gala this September.
Conduct research of large corporations and small businesses along the 606 Trail that will be honored at our gala in September.
Wrote seed grant letters of acceptance and rejection in order to award PACs with grant money for their parks.
LATE Ride leadership, a 25 mile bike ride through the city at 1 am!
Attending policy meetings and other various committee meetings to learn more about who FOTP is involved with and the projects they are completing (Last four miles, DuSable Park, etc.)
I have also been completing various assignments given to me by Lauren and Nicole now that LATE Ride has settled down.

LATE Ride:
Late Ride has been my favorite experience so far at my internship! FOTP puts it on every year and like stated earlier it is a 25 mile bike ride through the city beginning at 1 am. I am not into cycling so I have never been to an event like this,but it was amazing. It began at Buckingham Fountain and everyone decorated their bikes so they lit up and there was a contest for this before the ride began. I was in charge of the on-site registration booth, which was absolutely wild. We were swamped with registrations from about 9-1 am. I had the opportunity to work with Diane (board member) abd other volunteers. I improved my leadership skills so much in just one night. Although I am generally soft spoken and shy, I really broke out of my shell that night to make sure everything ran smoothly, which it did! I enjoyed seeing how excited all the participants were to complete a bike ride in the middle of the night! It was a great time and also a great bonding experience for the staff. I was there from about 5 pm to 4 am yet left early because my parents were visiting. Most staff stayed until 9 am, what a day!!! It was awesome walking to the starting line and seeing hundreds of people lined up to start while the skyline was lit up and the music was blasting. There were even some dogs being pulled behind their owners bikes.