Gateway Arch Park Foundation

See schedule o.in 2022, Gateway Arch Park Foundation continued its efforts in conservation, preservation, education and community programs at Gateway Arch national Park. Highlights include:conservation: through its volunteer program co-managed with the national Park service (nps), the Foundation supported the planting and caretaking of hundreds of trees, shrubs, and grasses throughout the Park. Many of these plants are pollinator attractors and help the Park's ecosystem. Foundation volunteers also assist the grounds crew in replacing invasive plant species with native, sustainable species, and they remove hundreds of pounds of trash from entering the Mississippi river. Preservation: the Foundation funded five visits from pacific studio staff, who completed 40 projects at the museum at the Gateway Arch, including exhibit repairs, replacements, and additions. Together with nps, the Foundation continued preparation for the renovation to the old courthouse (2023-25), including helping fund a home for its collections and archives, which is the basis of the historic site's interpretive programming and museum exhibits.education: in 2022, the Foundation began funding two permanent, full-time education specialists at Gateway Arch national Park. The Foundation's journey fund supported 1,953 students and educators from under-resourced schools and youth groups- an increase of 257% over 2021- to receive free Arch visits. Through the assistance of private grants, the Foundation co-hosted a new literacy program with nps called "reading with a ranger," which saw nearly 100 participants from 40+ zip codes, and supported an outdoors educational program "paddle your Park," which welcomed 210 local fourth graders. The Foundation continued to ensure equitable internet access throughout the Park's 91 acres and in kiener plaza with free public wi-fi and funded the 24/7 livestreams of two webcams from the top of the Arch. In 2022, the webcams were visited 109,535 times.community programs: the Foundation's yoga and bootcamp weekday programs had more than 1,130 participants, with another 412 at a partner's fitness series saturdays in september. Blues at the Arch became a weekend-long, destination festival in august that saw nearly 9,000 attendees. The Foundation hosted a memorial day weekend pop-up concert and a salute to veterans concert that saw more than 200 attendees each. Winterfest saw 38,500 people in kiener plaza over 22 days, with 209 participants in the winterfest 5k. The Foundation also led the volunteer program's two designated days of service and hosted the first "greater st. louis volunteer fair" at the Park with nps and several community partners. In total in 2022, the volunteer program welcomed 192 volunteers, a nearly 85% increase over 2021, including 12 corporate/community group days of service. Volunteers donated 4,905 hours over 992 shifts in areas such as landscaping and groundskeeping, museum interpretation and education, event services, development and communications, administration and more.