Support Your Park

SCA intern Adrienne Sharigian assists a third grade student during a Good Neighbors park design workshop. Photo by Joel Veak Support Your Park Supporting Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site can take on various forms. Our park utilizes volunteers and interns to support a variety of functions, from visitor services and education to buildings and grounds maintenance. Individuals sometimes help support the park financially, whether by direct financial donations or indirectly by purchasing books in our Eastern National cooperating association bookstore or by joining our friends group, the Friends of Fairsted.   Erin VanSpeybroeck takes a break from answering the phone for visitor services. Photo by SCA intern Matt Griffing Supporting Olmsted-designed parks and park systems can be accomplished through a variety of organizations, including the National Association for Olmsted Parks (NAOP) and through individual parks' friends groups. Such groups act as stewards in a variety of ways, whether through hands-on volunteering or educating surrounding communities about the park history and social value.   Quotes From Our Volunteers and Interns "The Good Neighbors' program, the Fairsted site, and the education team provided me with the perfect environment to foster personal and professional development." -Adrienne Sharigian, SCA Intern "During my volunteer work at Fairsted, I assisted students and community members in discovering the legacy that Olmsted left behind, and in the process of helping, I found myself closer to the genius of Frederick Law Olmsted, his sons, and his associates than I had ever imagined." -Sam Valentine, SCA Intern "To me, one of the greatest perquisites of volunteering is being even a tiny part of the National Parks system - America's best idea." -Erin VanSpeybroeck, Visitor Services Volunteer "Volunteers help us carry out the stewardship mission defined by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. in the language he contributed to the 1916 Organic Act establishing our agency. Without volunteers, we couldn't effectively conserve our site's resources, educate the public about them, and ensure they are around for visitors to experience in the future." -Mark Swartz, Park Ranger and Volunteer Coordinator   "The service thus established shall promote and regulate the areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations … [T]he fundamental purpose of said parks, monuments, and reservations … is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." -From Section 1 of The National Park Service Organic Act, 16 U.S.C. 1, 2, 3, and 4 signed into law August 25, 1916, with the italicized language contributed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (italics added)