A call to arms for ALL urban green spaces!

I write to you today to philosophize a bit and to ask you to consider donating to my favorite Boston charity, The Esplanade Association. I find that a great way to get to know a city and make it one’s own is to run its streets and parks. A good run through a city is like a history, social science, botany and gym class all mixed into one. In running we begin to understand how neighborhoods interconnect and interplay with each other, how a city has and continues to develop and how it breaths and decompresses. Whether it’s walking your dog in the panhandle park in San Francisco, running through Hyde Park in London or paper bagging beers with friends on the Great Lawn in Central Park in the city, parks and public spaces play the key role of heart and lungs to most cities. These spaces remind us that cities are renters and not owners and that despite our different zip codes we all occupy one big greenish planet.

The main such space in Boston is a park called the Esplanade. Though smaller than its Olmstead cousins in New York, its diverse botany and activities are top notch. With its Charles River views the park welcomes over 2.5 million visitors every year. What most visitors don’t realize, however, is that the park is under funded by the city and state and does not have the resources to maintain itself let alone develop additional community programs (follow this link to learn more about the park and its programs in need: www.esplanadeassociation.org )

To raise awareness of this overlooked charity I am running the Boston Marathon in under 5 weeks. Training through the Boston winter has been challenging at times but knowing that my efforts and those of my sponsors will help develop a key part of the city has made it worthwhile and even enjoyable.

In asking you to donate to the Esplanade Association I am asking you to donate to the development of this park as much as I am asking you to donate to the concept of urban green and public spaces and to the well being of all of our respective cities.

If you would like to donate please do so using this page or send me a check addressed to the Esplanade Association to the following address: 290 Commonwealth Av Apt 15 Boston, Mass 02115

Thank you for indulging me in my green thought and for considering making a donation

Gratefully and respectfully yours,

Jenaro