| The Richmond Recreation and
Parks Foundation (the Foundation) was founded in 1990 with the
assistance of the City of Richmond's Recreation and Parks
Citizen Advisory Board and the City's Department of Recreation
and Parks. The Foundation
was created to provide a means for citizens to assist the City,
primarily the Department of Recreation and Parks (now the
Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities) with
unfunded physical and program needs.
 Early projects included
fundraising with a Sport Celebrity Golf Tournament, working with
Peak Experiences, Inc. and James River Corporation to build a
Ropes Course on Belle Isle, and fundraising for the
rehabilitation of Richmond's Landmark Theatre (formerly the
Richmond Mosque). Each year, the Foundation provides around
$7,000 in scholarships to the Department’s Summer Camp n Kids
programs.
The Foundation has hosted
symposia to raise City staff and citizen awareness of changing
park, recreation and urban forest issues. In 1995, the
Foundation sponsored the Metro Richmond James River Forum. In
1999, the Foundation sponsored a Tree Forum for Urban Forestry
for tree experts in the state and region, and sponsored a
follow-up Mayor's Tree Conference: A Focus on Richmond's Urban
Forest in 2001, intended to restart the former Shade Tree
Commission and promote other Urban Forestry initiatives.
Additionally, the Foundation is
the 501(c)3 charitable, non-profit "umbrella" for almost 50
grass roots, volunteer, and fund-raising "Partner" organizations
in the City whose goals parallel the mission of the Richmond
Recreation and Parks Foundation and the Department of Parks,
Recreation and Community Facilities. The Foundation is their
fiduciary agent, attending to contributions, distributions,
bookkeeping, tax reporting and independent audits.
Foundation Officers, the
Executive Director, and Board Members are all voluntary,
non-paying positions. The Foundation pays a staff assistant to
help with QuickBooks, Audit record-keeping, and
donation-acknowledgment letters.
Each year, the Foundation
continues to expand its role in assisting its many Partner
groups and the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community
Facilities, with fundraising, grant applications, public
education forums, and special events. At the end of 2002, the
Foundation and its partners’ accounts had a balance of roughly
$207,000. During 2003, the Foundation and its associated
partners received $423,000 in contributions from all sources.
The Foundation distributed $347,000 to specific projects and
expenses within each partner project. At the end of 2003, the
Foundation and partner balance was $298,000, a net increase of
$91,000 over the previous year. Richmond Recreation And Parks
Foundation
2004 Annual
Report (PDF format requires
Adobe Acrobat for viewing).
2003 Annual Report
2002 Annual Report
2000 Annual Report |
