100 Years of Wild: Celebrating a Century of Stewardship
Friends of the Wissahickon is excited to close out our year of 100th anniversary celebrations at our 100 Years of Wild Gala tomorrow! A night of live music and dancing, delicious food and drink, and a charitable auction. Looking to help support Wissahickon Valley Park and take home a fabulous work of art, excursion, or consultation with a local expert? Click here to check out our silent auction items. Bidding closes tomorrow, 11/8, at 10 PM.
While we can’t wait to slip on our dancing shoes, the night is a lot more than a glamorous get-together. The Gala will commemorate a century of mission and civic duty, where we’ll honor a few distinct agents of change, reflect on the rich history of our 100-year-old organization, and look toward the horizon to what the next century holds.
Friends of the Wissahickon is always evolving to meet the park’s and visitors’ changing needs. But, our mission has stayed the same: to conserve the natural beauty and wildness of the Wissahickon Valley and stimulate public interest therein. Thanks to our many supporters, our organization continues to grow and thrive.
Our volunteer corps is at the heart of our organization: the people who donate their time because they care about conserving Wissahickon Valley Park. We’re not being hyperbolic—nothing we do would be possible without our 1,500+ annual volunteers and all they accomplish out in the park. Over the past 20 years, FOW’s volunteer program has grown more than thirteen-fold—from 1,294 recorded volunteer hours in 2004 to more than 17,000 hours in 2023. Thank you for helping us conserve our special corner of the world.
These volunteers undertake many tasks in support of a more resilient Wissahickon Valley Park: collecting litter, removing invasive plants, habitat monitoring, and installing native plants that beautify the park. This important work fosters habitat for wildlife and improves the green buffers that help limit harmful chemicals and sediment from running off into our waterways. Over the past 20 years, FOW staff and volunteers have planted nearly 45,000 native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants throughout the Wissahickon.
Improving the park’s trails and habitat with our volunteers might be our signature program as the caretakers of the Wissahickon. Still, through our decade-long partnership with Let’s Go Outdoors (LGO), we’ve been able to focus efforts and funds toward connecting Philadelphia youth to this beautiful place. Since 2017, our collaboration with LGO has welcomed over 4,000 K-2nd graders from Philadelphia public schools for lessons about the park and field trips to the Wissahickon through the Little Friends of the Wissahickon program. This is the path toward a more equitable Wissahickon Valley Park.
Due to the effects of increased visitorship and climate change, FOW is in a longstanding battle against erosion. Thanks to generous donations and support from our members, FOW has invested $15 million over the last 10 years in capital infrastructure improvements that manage stormwater, balance the effect of over-use of our trails, and increase accessibility through the multi-year Sustainable Trails Initiative, the Forbidden Drive Streambank Stabilization Project, and most recently our largest single project to date, the Valley Green Streambank Stabilization and Pedestrian Bridge Project. It’s a delicate balance between the needs of the park and visitor use, but through our Sustainable Trails Initiative we’ve rebuilt more than 20 miles of trails which will ensure their longevity and decrease human impact on the surrounding habitat.
To friends new and old, thank you for joining us on our conservation mission. Your support is integral to all we’ve been able to accomplish thus far. We can’t wait for what’s in store.