Trust for Public Land and Macy’s Partner to Support National Community Schoolyard Initiative in honor of Earth Month
Trust for Public Land (TPL) and Macy’s continue their longstanding partnership and commitment to creating a more sustainable future by supporting TPL’s transformative Community Schoolyards™ initiative. As part of Macy’s, Inc.’s social purpose platform, Mission Every One, from April 1 through April 30, the brand will host a special round-up in-store and online donation campaign to support the transformation of public schoolyard into community parks, improving educational outcomes and protecting land for people to ensure healthy, livable communities for generations to come.
“Our communities with fewer green spaces have worse air quality and are susceptible to catastrophic flooding and heat, but a solution is ready to be scaled – turning our neighborhood asphalt playgrounds into vibrant green schoolyards,” said Danielle Denk, National Schoolyards Director with Trust for Public Land. “This Earth Day and every day, TPL’s Community Schoolyard projects give kids and entire communities play spaces they want and need to thrive.”
Last year, Macy’s welcomed Danielle Denk, Trust for Public Land’s Community Schoolyards Initiative Director, to their Herald Square store where colleagues had the chance to learn the importance and impact of the donations for Trust for Public Land.
“Through our social purpose platform, Mission Every One, Macy’s is committed to integrating sustainability in our work enterprise-wide and expanding our roles as environmental stewards year-round by prioritizing sustainability ambitions and partnerships with sustainability-minded organizations, including Trust for Public Land,” said Keelin Evans, vice president of sustainability & responsible sourcing at Macy’s, Inc. “As we continue our sustainability journey, I am thrilled to see our customers’ and colleagues’ commitment to raising funds and awareness for critical initiatives and projects that provide our communities with vital green space.”
In addition to the month-long round-up and donation campaign, Macy’s is committed to creating a more sustainable environment. Throughout April, Macy’s will highlight a wide range of sustainable product and sustainable brands, including Hotel Collection, Oake, On 34th and State of Day, all which will be amplified online via macys.com/purpose, in marketing and across Macy’s social channels.
Trust for Public Land believes that transforming America’s schoolyards into shared public parks by 2030 is a common-sense, cost-effective solution to America’s park equity problem. Opening all public schoolyards during non-school hours would put a park within a 10-minute walk of nearly 20 million people—solving the problem of outdoor access for one-fifth of the nation’s 100 million people who don’t currently have a park close to home.
A recent study by TPL found that nationwide, 36 percent of the nation’s 50.8 million public school students attended school in a heat island, defined as 1.25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer or more, on average, than the surrounding town or city. Renovated schoolyards have climate superpowers, as specially landscaped gardens, bioswales, and porous surfaces absorb stormwater, preventing floods and cooling downplay spaces.
Connecting children and youth to the powers of the outdoors has never been greater. Children spend an average of 7 minutes a day engaged in unstructured outdoor play and more than 7 hours a day on screens. Youth are facing chronic mental health issues and our communities experience loneliness at an unhealthy level. We must harness the healing power of the outdoors for children, youth and communities, especially in places they are needed most.
About Trust for Public Land
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,364 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, raised $93 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 9.4 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.
About Macy’s
Macy’s, the largest retail brand of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) serves as the style source for generations of customers. With one of the nation’s largest e-commerce platforms powered by macys.com and mobile app, paired with a nationwide network of stores, Macy’s delivers the most convenient and seamless shopping experience, offering great values in apparel, home, beauty, accessories and more. Macy’s gives customers even more ways to shop and own their style through an off-price assortment at Macy’s Backstage and at our highly curated and smaller store format, Market by Macy’s. Each year, Macy’s provides millions with unforgettable experiences through Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks® and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade® and helps our customers celebrate special moments, big and small. We’re guided by our purpose – to create a brighter future with bold representation that empowers more voice, choice and ownership for our colleagues, customers, and communities.