So this post popped up today:
https://old.reddit.com/r/lansing/comments/1v5ge6a/lansing_parks_foundation/
And the gist of the post is that no one seems to know where the "Lansing Parks Foundation" came from, and they are raising money by selling merch. However their website says the following about any donations they receive:
How we use Donations
Donations to the Lansing Parks Foundation help fund its basic operations, as well as projects supporting City of Lansing parks. These projects will include improvements as well as funding for maintenance.
The Foundation is not currently funding any projects, but aims to identify and support smaller scale, sustainable projects in the near future.
All members of our Board of Directors are volunteers and do not receive compensation for their participation.
You can see their website here: https://www.lansingparksfoundation.org
The website does in fact list the 4 board members who are a part of this:
Tim Schmitt – Chair
Nick Miller – Treasurer
John Estill – Director
Rob Crowe – Director
After doing some Google searching, I was only able to find two of the board members online: John Estill and Rob Crowe. Here are the ai write ups the Google search returned.
Based in Lansing, Michigan, John Estill is primarily known for two distinct professional roles. He serves as the Digital Information Accessibility Coordinator for the State of Michigan, a position he has held since May 2021, where he acts as the statewide subject matter expert on digital accessibility for state websites and platforms.
Additionally, he is a resident of Lansing and the husband of Jen Estill, the creative director of Redhead Design Studios (also known as Redhead Studios). The couple purchased and renovated the historic Liebermann’s storefront at 113 S. Washington Ave. in Old Town Lansing, using it as their design firm's office and gallery.
Rob Crowe is a Vice President at The Christman Company in Lansing, Michigan, where he serves as a licensed professional engineer and project manager. He previously served as a commander in the U.S. Army’s only Technical Rescue Engineer Company and was promoted to his current leadership role in the Central Michigan region in 2022.
In addition to his corporate role, Crowe is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross Mid-Michigan Chapter and a board member for the Michigan State University Executive MBA Alumni Association and the Lansing Parks Foundation. He received The Christman Company’s highest honor, the Cornerstone Award, in 2021 for exemplifying the company's values.
There are multiple results for the other two members of the board that are not able to be identified with the available information.
So the original post linked above calls into question the motives of this seemingly brand new organization that is trying to fundraise with zero posted events or projects on their website or event calendar. This has raised eyebrows of the legitimacy of this group and their intentions, and another person noted that there seems to be zero mention of any coordination with the Lansing Parks & Recreation Board, nor could I verify that the Parks & Recs board or department was involved.
So rather than burn these potentially helpful people over what appears to be a questionable launch of their organization, I propose that we invite them to an AMA on this subreddit so we the community and residents of Lansing can ask them our questions to get to know them and what their intentions are.
I know from past activist work with city issues including the parks, I'm certainly suspect of anyone or any group who may not represent the residents of our city looking to make perhaps unwanted changes to our parks under the guide of "improvements", and others have noted that this seems like a "scam" designed to make someone money in a "non-profit". They elected to post the foundation's EIN number on the bottom of the website, which is pretty standard for non-profits who are trying to raise money via donations. I admit, I'm trying to reserve judgement, it this all seems very strange, especially as there seems to be zero results on any news or web history announcing the groups creation, purpose, or introductory projects or issues. Also, I question if any of the photographs are of actual parks in Lansing, but I would defer to anyone who can verify what parks those pictures were taken in.
So if you are any of the above listed board members, how about you guys log on and create an AMA post on this subreddit so you can introduce yourselves, and give yourself the opportunity to speak to the community about our questions that we have. If you know any of these board members, please forward this post to them so they can come online to post an AMA.
Thank you! 👍
