The Houston Dynamo celebrated the third annual MLS WORKS Greener Goals Week of Service on Wednesday morning, getting their hands dirty at the Houston Police Memorial to help beautify the park leading up to Earth Day.
The Greener Goals initiative highlights the league’s commitment to environmental sustainability, with MLS club and staff members volunteering their time with local charitable organizations. Dynamo and Dash staff, along with midfielder Eric Bird and goalkeeper Michael Nelson, joined forces with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership to give back to the community.
“Today we’re moving mulch and trying to make the park look nice,” said Bird. “We like to help the community we’re a part of. Houston has obviously taken us in so we want to give back to them and have a good time with it.”
The memorial is located in Buffalo Bayou Park, which was selected as one of 13 winners of the 2017 Global Award for Excellence by the Urban Land Institute. The Dynamo also assisted in beautification efforts in the park last year.
“We do an annual routine of maintaining the Houston Police Memorial Park area to prepare for the memorial event we’ll be having in May for all the police officers that have fallen for the city of Houston,” said Leticia Sierras, Volunteer Coordinator for the Buffalo Bayou Partnership.
“We’re so grateful for them to come out. They continuously help us donation wise and they come out here to help us beautify the park. For them to come out and want to make this beautiful for the community is a great pleasure and honor.”
The Dynamo will continue the Greener Goals Week of Service on Friday by partnering with the Houston Zoo to plant a pollinator garden at BBVA Compass Stadium, The garden will be planted with predominantly with flowers that provide nectar or pollen for a range of pollinating insects, which then pollinate fruits, vegetables, and flowers, making plants healthier and more likely to produce a quality harvest.
Additionally, Dynamo players will wear special Parley jerseys that are made from recycled marine plastics during their match on Saturday, April 21 against Toronto FC (2 p.m. CT, TICKETS) as part of MLS and adidas’ partnership with Parley for the Oceans.
