Pima County Parklands Foundation

Organization Mission and Programs

Pima County, Arizona established its Parks and Recreation Department in 1947 to serve urban and rural residents and guests by providing leisure-time destinations and services. As the rapidly growing community has stretched public funds thinner and thinner, parks have often come last in line. And as a government body, Pima County Parks and Recreation is not empowered to accept donations of money or goods, even though people are often eager to donate to help their local park.

So, in 1987 a group of concerned volunteers founded the Pima County Parklands Foundation. Its mission is "to protect and enhance the parks of Pima County, Arizona: this includes funding park improvements, the acquisition of parklands, and the enhancement and enlargement of recreation programs."

The mission statement continues: "We wish to preserve and protect the environment for present and future generations, and it is our desire to work with and aid anyone, organization or individual, urban or rural, with similar objectives.Our part of the world is changing dramatically; we with the Pima County Parklands Foundation want to anticipate the pressure of development on our parks and to plan accordingly."

Operating Programs

One of the Pima County Parklands Foundation's vital functions is accepting donations earmarked for a specific park or recreation program and routing them where the donors intend-and augmenting donations when more funds are needed. These requests can be as diverse as installing benches in a park, constructing an enclosed run for dogs, providing a safe place for teenagers to celebrate New Year's eve, or providing after-school snacks for underprivileged children at a local community center.

Every summer the Foundation sponsors a free swim program, offering swims and lessons in County pools to thousands of children whose families can't afford to pay for them. And every September it sponsors an all-day outing to Old Tucson Studios-a local attraction as well as a County Park-for over 4,000 Tucson schoolchildren.

In 1992 the Pima County Parklands Foundation took on administrative responsibility for the newly expanded 2,100-acre Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Capital improvements in the Park come from the funds which the Park managers pay to the Foundation, and the remainder is dedicated to the needs of other parks in Pima County.

In 1998 the Pima County Baseball District appointed the Foundation to provide the parking attendants, ushers, ticket-takers, and security for the spring training baseball games held at Tucson Electric Park. The Foundation in turn forged a partnership with another charitable agency, the Pima Council on Aging, to help implement the directive. Any profits from this venture will be used for baseball-related activities for youth in Pima County.

Also this year the Foundation has established active fund-raising campaigns for two parks with differing needs: Users of Agua Caliente Park want to rebuild a dangerous bridge in the Park that had to be closed; while the needs of the newly-established Feliz Paseos Universal Access Park, which provides trails for the handicapped through an area of natural Sonoran desert, are many, including restrooms, ramadas, trail development, and signage.

Additional Comments

The Pima County Parklands Foundation is an all-volunteer organization, so donations are directed, in their entirety, exactly as the donor wishes. Donors may earmark contributions for specific uses, such as improvements in neighborhood parks, enhancement of recreation programs, or acquisition of land for existing or new parks.

In the case of a gift of parkland, the donor may make restrictions on how the land is to be used. Such requests will be scrupulously observed. The Foundation can also work with donors to establish lifetime living arrangements or conservation easements on land bequeathed for parkland.

Donations are tax-deductible, within the limits of the law. For more information, call 520-647-7121. To make a donation, send it to:

Pima County Parklands Foundation
P. O. Box 70
Vail, Arizona 85641

Chief Executive Profile

G. Eugene Isaak is a native of North Dakota. He was educated at the University of North Dakota and New York University and has practiced law in Arizona since 1963. He was also admitted to practice law before the U.S. Tax Court and the United States Supreme Court. His professional activities include State Bar of Arizona, Section of Probate and Trust Law, Chairman and Counsel Member; Southern Arizona Estate Planning Counsel Chairman and Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He is listed in "The Best Lawyers in America."

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Asthma Foundation of Southern Arizona, and a member of the legal and accounting advisory committee of the Tucson Community Foundation.

Pima County Parklands Foundation
Board Members

G. Eugene Isaak, President
Donald L. Burtchin, Director
Robert Shelton, Director
Gene I. Wendt, Director