This summer, Parkridge SummerFest and Joe Dulin Community Day celebrated 10 years of bringing together music, food, and community in Parkridge Park every fourth Saturday of August. This year’s festivities looked a little different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Community partners - led by the Parkridge SummerFest Committee and Washtenaw County OCED - organized a two part virtual/socially distant event to celebrate community and connect residents to resources in place of an in-person festival.
First, on August 22nd, a virtual livestream featured performances from local musicians, updates from community agencies regarding housing, health, and education, and a call to action to complete the census and register to vote. A recording of the event can be found on the Washtenaw OCED Facebook page here.
The next weekend, on August 29th, Ypsilanti Community Schools, FoodGatherers, and Metro by T-Mobile joined the Parkridge SummerFest Committee and OCED for a school supply and grocery drive-thru giveaway. Five hundred area households came to Ypsilanti Community Middle School to receive over 900 backpacks filled with school supplies provided by Metro by T-Mobile and the Washtenaw County Community Action Board. Families also received hundreds of grocery boxes packed with fresh produce, canned goods, and healthy snack foods for kids returning to school, as well as thousands of hot meals, hand sanitizers, and disinfecting wipes.