Back to Life

It's been a rough winter — a rough fifty winters, really — for the Burns and Sopris Gardens at City Park. "Those gardens haven't been fully planted in more than fifty years," says Carissa Lester, a senior public-relations manager for Ground Floor Media. "That part of the park is pretty dilapidated." That's where the second annual Passion for Parks event comes in. "The whole idea is to freshen it up, make it accessible," Lester adds. "It's a big deal to be able to bring those back to life."

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• Carissa Lester
• Alex Grant

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Sponsored by Starbucks — which donated a hefty $100,000 to the project — Passion will employ the help of more than 400 volunteers (half of whom are employees of the java giant) to plant trees, shrubs and flowers, lay sod, spread gravel for paths and stain the wooden playground, among other improvements. Throughout the event, three local bands (also made up of Starbucks employees) — the December Question, pianist Alex Grant and the Carey Pearsall Band — will perform for volunteers and the general public, who are welcome to stop by and witness the gardens' transformation.

Registration is at 8 a.m.; volunteers will do their thing from 8:30 a.m. until noon, when Mayor Hickenlooper is scheduled to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony. A volunteer luncheon will be served at 12:30 p.m. For more information, go to www.denvergov.org/dprvolunteers or call 303-964-1043.
Sat., May 19, 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m.