Parks Foundation of Palm Beach County

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Parks Foundation of Palm Beach County"
Culturally Speaking: The South Florida Sunday Podcast
Host: Mick (A), Guest: John Gorski, President, Parks Foundation of Palm Beach County (B)
Date: April 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode spotlights the Parks Foundation of Palm Beach County, exploring its mission, history, recent achievements, and plans for the future. Host Mick is joined by John Gorski, the Foundation’s President, who shares insights into how the organization enhances the parks throughout Palm Beach County, the importance of accessibility, and ways the public can contribute.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Origins and Motivation

• Foundation’s Creation
  • The Parks and Recreation Department has a 70-year legacy, but the Parks Foundation itself was established just two years ago (2022).
  • The impetus: John Gorski’s attempt to make a charitable donation was blocked by legal barriers, motivating the creation of a separate nonprofit entity.
  • The founding involved local community leaders and was formalized with an agreement with county commissioners.
  • "It's really a board of community leaders who have come together who care about our parks in our region and want to keep improving them." — John Gorski (01:48)

Mission and Purpose

• Primary Mission
  • Raise awareness and promote enjoyment of parks and green spaces in Palm Beach County.
  • Support public access and maintain free, high-quality recreation facilities.
  • "Benefits of parks and recreation are endless while public funding for quality park system is not." — John Gorski (02:24)

Funding and Support

• Solely Privately Funded
  • The Foundation relies exclusively on private, company, and foundation donations, with major support from FPL and a significant matching grant initiative.
  • "We're also funded by companies like FPL and private foundations have also contributed so far." — John Gorski (03:13)
  • Donations are tax-deductible due to 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

Recent Projects and Achievements

• Accessibility Initiatives
  • Beach Mats: Installation of five beach mats in various county beaches, providing better access for people using wheelchairs, strollers, or those with mobility challenges.
    • "This allows access for people in wheelchairs or with strollers... so they can get from the parking area closer to the water." — John Gorski (03:56)
• Environmental and Educational Efforts
  • Tree Planting: Partnership with Community Greening and Palm Health to plant dozens of shade trees at Triangle Park.
  • Storyboards and Communication Boards: Installed to educate on local flora and fauna and to help children of all linguistic backgrounds communicate in playgrounds.
• National Recognition
  • CAPRA Accreditation: Supported the county in achieving this rare national parks standard.
    • "Less than 5% of all parks across the US are able to achieve this national standard." — John Gorski (05:04)
• Safety and Innovation
  • 2026 Project: Funding portable AEDs (defibrillators) in eight county parks.
  • Upcoming Tools: Funding for misting machines, bat boxes for mosquito control, and historic artifact preservation (especially from Peanut Island).

Vision for the Future

• Short-Term Goals
  • Shade canopies, new kayak launches, remote wildlife cameras, and art installations (sculptures/murals) in neighborhood parks.
• Long-Term Ambitions
  • Larger acquisitions (wave runner machine, expanded park lands).
  • Ensuring every resident is within 10 minutes of a local park.
  • Restoration of historic properties (e.g., the Kennedy Bunker on Peanut Island).
  • Focused on completing the current matching grant campaign and attracting major donors.
  • "Ultimately, we want to keep improving our world class parks system and work in concert with local donors and agencies to do so." — John Gorski (07:13)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the reason for the Foundation’s inception:
  "My family foundation can't make a contribution to a government agency... so we started that process in 2022." — John Gorski (01:07)

• On the accessibility impact:
  "If you think about a beach mat being about 5 ft wide... and this allows access for people in wheelchairs or with strollers... so they can get from the parking area closer to the water." — John Gorski (03:56)

• On the value of parks:
  "Benefits of parks and recreation are endless, while public funding for quality park system is not." — John Gorski (02:24)

• On the broader vision:
  "We want to keep growing and enhancing our parks with future projects... including getting the matching grant completed in the next couple of years, which we hope will lead to finding larger donors so we can fund these larger projects." — John Gorski (06:16)

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Important Timestamps

• [00:25] — Introduction of John Gorski and Foundation background
• [01:07] — Formation of the Foundation and personal motivation
• [02:24] — Articulation of the Foundation’s mission
• [03:00] — Discussion on sources of funding
• [03:53] — Recent projects: accessibility, environment, education
• [05:04] — National CAPRA accreditation achievement
• [05:55] — Upcoming safety and innovation projects
• [06:16] — Vision for the future and ongoing fundraising efforts

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Final Takeaway

The Parks Foundation of Palm Beach County plays a pivotal role in keeping Palm Beach’s parks accessible, inclusive, and forward-thinking. With strong leadership, a focus on community collaboration, and ambitious plans ahead, the Foundation exemplifies grassroots dedication to public spaces. Listeners are encouraged to learn more or support via parksfoundationofpalmbeachcounty.org.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome to South Florida Sunday. We're here to talk about parks in Palm beach county, something we all love. And we have lots of parks in Palm beach county, from beaches to golf to, you know, neighborhood parks, also wildlife and all that. And to that end, our guest is the Parks foundation of Palm Beach County President John Gorski. Welcome to the show.

[B]

Thank you, Mick. Good to be here.

[A]

So I was looking at your website and I noticed that this organization goes back a long, long way to very famous names in Palm beach county history like Lake Lytle and John Prince. And people can also check it all out online at Parks foundation in palm beachcounty.org but tell us what prompted the creation of the foundation.

[B]

Well, Nick, as you said, Parks and Recreation for the county has been around for probably 70 years. The parks foundation of Palm beach county has only been around for two. So what happened was I've been coming to Palm beach county, visiting Okeheeli park in West Palm beach on Forest Hill near the turnpike to ski and train in the winter since probably about 2012. It's one of the best locations in the country to competitively water ski. While in 2018 or 2019, after several years of doing this and as my wife and I bought our first place here, I offered to make a donation from my family foundation to the parks department. But the county did not have a not for profit charity in place to accept the money. And my family foundation can't make a contribution to a government agency. So back in 2021, after Covid settled, the director of parks at the time, his name was Eric Call, reached out to ask if I would be on a board along with other community leaders to establish a parks foundation. I had just retired from my full time job in Ohio, was spending the winters here, so I said yes. And we started that process in 2022. Just finished up last year having signed an agreement with the Palm beach county commissioners and now we're up and operating. So it's really a board of community leaders who have come together who care about our parks in our region and want to keep improving them.

[A]

Well, we're glad to have you here in Palm Beach County. Welcome and thanks for doing what you're doing. So you kind of answered this, but what is the purpose or mission of the foundation? In other words, why do you do what you do?

[B]

So first, benefits of parks and recreation are endless while public funding for quality park system is not. So our mission is to raise awareness of the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department's programs and promote the use and enjoyment of parks, green spaces and recreational areas. Essentially, we're here to help the Parks Department continue to deliver world class parks and recreation facilities to residents and visitors in Palm beach county and to keep parks free and accessible.

[A]

Okay, and I know you said you donated. How is the organization funded in general? From the public.

[B]

So we're funded entirely by private donations at this point. So people who go to our parks and want to contribute can do that. Right. On our website that you referred to earlier, we're also funded by companies like fpl and private foundations have also contributed so far. We even have a matching grant of $350,000 that were only about 10% along the way of matching. So at least for the next couple of years, we're going to increase our awareness through social media and interviews like this to take advantage of that dollar for dollar match to raise more money. And the other good thing about our foundation, which is dedicated to supporting parks, is that it's tax deductible, since we're what's called a 501, which means we're a not for profit charity in the state of Florida and tax exempt from the irs.

[A]

What are some of the projects that you've been able to fund and what's on your 2026 plan to support this year?

[B]

So one of my favorite projects we funded so far is five beach mats. If you think about a beach mat being about 5ft wide and some are longer than others, but maybe 100ft long. And this allows access for people in wheelchairs or with strollers or for people who might have trouble walking across sand so they can get from the parking area closer to the water. On several beaches in Palm beach county, we've got one in Boca Raton, we've got one at Ocean Inlet park near the Boynton Beach Inlet. We've got one at Ocean Reef park on Singer island. And then the last two are up in Ocean Cay park and Duwa park in Jupiter. Another project we funded last year included a tree planting at Triangle park in Canal Point near Lake Okeechobee, where we partnered with Community Greening and Palm Health to plant dozens of new trees, which will add shade to our park there as the trees grow. We've also launched some storyboards to explain some of the natural plants, flowers and animals along nature trails and communication boards in certain playgrounds so that kids from different regions or who speak different languages can communicate using symbols and pictures. Last year, the foundation also supported the Parks Department with achieving something called CAPRA accreditation, which stands for the Commission for accreditation of parks and recreation agencies across the United states. Less than 5% of all parks across the US are able to achieve this national standard. And we're proud that Palm beach county achieved this last year for 2026. We just approved a project where the Parks Department is going to install portable AEDs, those automated external defibrillators in eight different parks around the county. And we're looking to support additional projects like misting machines to cool off in the hot weather, bat boxes for natural mosquito control and historic artifact collection from Peanut island, where the Kennedy Bunker's at.

[A]

Wow, that's impressive. That's quite a list there. You know, I love some of the rural parks and I love going out to Lake Okeechobee and people that haven't done. I would highly recommend that get out of the city and see what the western Palm beach county is like. It's pretty cool out there for sure. So what would you like the future to bring? The foundation and the park system in Palm Beach county, what's next?

[B]

We're proud of our park system, but want to keep growing and enhancing our parks with future projects. So in the short term, the next couple years on our list, we have shade canopies to provide more shade, some kayak launches, installing some remote wildlife cameras, and from the art or cultural standpoint, the possibility of sculpture or mural installations in neighborhood parks. And in the longer term, help fund things like a wave runner machine, acquire more land for new or expanded parks so that everyone in Palm beach county is within 10 minutes of a local entry park, and restoring the Coast Guard and Kennedy bunker facilities on Peanut island since they hold such local and national significance. Of course, all these require additional funding, so we are focused on raising more money to help with all these projects, including getting the matching grant completed in the next couple of years, which we hope will lead to finding larger donors so we can fund these larger projects. Ultimately, we want to keep improving our world class parks system and work in concert with local donors and agencies to do so.

[A]

It sounds like the Parks foundation of Palm beach county is in good hands with you. John Gorski, the Foundation President, thanks for being here with us today and I want to remind everybody again too, if you'd like to learn more or contribute, be a part of it. Parks foundation of palmbeachcounty.org org and thanks for being on the show with us today and enlightening us.

[B]

Thanks so much, Mick. Appreciate it.