By Nat Leinbach Mission-driven organizations rely heavily on volunteering to support the delivery of critical services in local spaces. From collecting and distributing food, to conducting scientific research, to disaster relief, volunteer efforts are crucial. Where nonprofits and community organizations lack sufficient funding, teams of volunteers are often ready to step in. As we experience...
By Nat Leinbach The year 2025 featured a lot of ups and downs for environmental protection and the policies that govern its support. From significant staffing cuts within the EPA and NOAA to detrimental natural disasters exacerbated by global climate change, environmental work can feel like an uphill battle. While 2025 was riddled with challenges,...
By Nat Leinbach On Wednesday, October 1, over one hundred people attended the public hearing for the District’s Bill 26-0058 entitled Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Amendment Act of 2025. Also known as the DC Bottle Bill. The DC Bottle Bill is a piece of environmental legislation that will have a great positive impact on...
By Nat Leinbach One of the best ways to support access to national parks and public lands is to understand the challenges they face. While our parks across the country are widely enjoyed by both domestic and international visitors, they might undergo the largest funding cut in their history at the end of the month....
An Article by Mariana Fariña Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: The Passion of a Father-Daughter Duo A visit to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens invigorates the soul and injects a shot of beauty into the heart every time I visit. Yet the only aquatic garden of the National Park Service remains relatively unknown to too many residents of...
By Alex Lopez It was a pleasure working with the Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens together with the National Park Service! Although my stay was only for the duration for the summer, I got to meet many people from unique backgrounds and talents. I spoke with interns from NPS who were relatively around my age...
By Shannah Cumberbatch Hello Friends, All good things must come to an end… I began my journey with the Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (FoKAG) in January 2021. These years certainly flew by! Here we are with over 1,200 days to look back on. It took me weeks to draft this because I had no...
Our elders know the secrets, have the stories and hold the keys to what our communities used to look like and how they functioned. Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens wants to know from our senior and seasoned residents what your experience of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens has been over the last eight decades. If...
By Joe Lapp I want to tell you about one of my personal national park heroes, Walter McDowney. Walter grew up in Kenilworth Courts, the public housing complex just outside the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. When his family moved in around 1960, they thought their new home a palace. Walter loved nature and spent lots of...
By Joe Lapp “The lily ponds,” as I called the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens while growing up on nearby Douglas Street, makes me happy! Why? Well, for starters, did you know that a one-armed Civil War veteran started the digging that made the ponds? That’s right, Walter “W. B.” Shaw lost his right arm at the...
