Emma Kibort-Crocker of City Year was one of 36 City Year volunteers who welcomed an afternoon outdoors at the York Pond corner of the Blackstone Park Conservation District April 9th. They got an early start cutting a particularly invasive plant, Japanese knotweed, up in the woods on Irving where Park Department mowers can’t reach. They also tackled weeds in the native plant garden installed by the Conservancy last year. Others hauled small trees felled above the pond by storms and piled the debris at the foot of the bluff to discourage destructive foot traffic.
The volunteers, aged 17 to 24, are nearing the end of a year working in Providence schools. Some, like Emma, plan to study education and teach.