Verona Park and another Essex County park in Livingston have been selected for the “Heart Your Park,” a Macy’s program to raise awareness and money for local parks across the country. From now until Monday, March 31, Macy’s customers can donate $1 or more at the register, with 100 percent of the donations benefiting the parks. Macy’s will match the customer donations, dollar for dollar, up to $250,000 in total.
“We are thrilled to partner with Macy’s and NRPA for ‘Heart Your Park’ this spring,” said Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. in a statement. “Through this wonderful program and donations by Macy’s customers, we are excited about the increased awareness and additional funding for Riker Hill and Verona parks. These facilities are great assets to the community, and we greatly appreciate Macy’s support,” he added.
More than 550 parks nationwide will benefit from Macy’s “Heart Your Park” this spring. In partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), the national non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of community parks, recreation and conservation, Macy’s stores across the country have each selected a local park or green space in their community to support through the program. Donations will go toward making improvements, such as maintaining trails, playgrounds and ball fields.
Verona Park was nominated to the program by the Macy’s store in the Willowbrook Mall and the Macy’s Route 46 Furniture Store in Wayne. Verona Park is 54.32 acres, making it the fifth largest in the Essex County Park System. The land was acquired in 1920 by the Essex County Park Commission and Olmsted Brothers was commissioned to design the park.
The other Essex County park, Riker Hill Art Park, was nominated to the program by the Macy’s store in the Livingston Mall. The 42-acre Riker Hill Art Park was a U.S. Army Nike Missile Base in the 1950s. Essex County purchased the property from the federal government in 1974 and converted the buildings that once housed army facilities into studio space for artists. There currently are 38 artists in residence at Riker Hill Art Park.
For more information on Macy’s “Secret Garden” program, visit macys.com/secretgarden.
Photo copyright Glenn Houthuysen. Used by permission.
