LA Kings and SoCal Gas Partner With North East Trees to Beautify the Augustus F. Hawkins Nature Park in South Los Angeles

Restoration Project Coincides with International Youth Day

Once the site of a cement storage yard, the Augustus F. Hawkins Nature Park is a dense space filled with walking trails, rolling hills, wildflowers, and trees. To help ensure that this green oases in the middle of South Los Angeles is able to continue providing a serene haven to area residents, AEG’s LA Kings and SoCal Gas partnered with North East Trees, an environmental justice non-profit organization, to beautify the 8.5-acre park’s natural habitat. 

More than 40 employees from the two organizations spent the day restoring the park by mulching, weeding and landscaping. The beautification project, which took place on August 11, was held in recognition of International Youth Day. 

Located in the middle of an industrial neighborhood, the Augustus F. Hawkins Nature Park is a gathering place for the community to socialize and relax, for kids to ride bikes and for families to celebrate birthdays. The park includes a Discovery Center that offers numerous workshops and programs for children, youth and adults, and features a mini-native habitat, a pond with fish and riparian native plant life, bringing a wilderness landscape to the urban setting.

“The LA Kings are committed to ensuring that children and youth across Southern California have access to high-quality green spaces, and we are proud to partner with SoCal Gas and North East Trees on this important initiative,” said Celia Garth, Community Relations Coordinator, LA Kings. “As one of the few green spaces and micro wilderness habitats in South Los Angeles, August F. Hawkins Nature Park plays a significant role in the community. Exposing kids to nature and wilderness can help them think beyond their immediate surroundings and builds well-rounded perspectives. It also provides many lifelong benefits including physical health, mental health and academic competency.”

The Augustus F. Hawkins Nature Park was built in 2000 and was named after the late U.S. congressman, who, in 1963, became the first African American member of congress elected west of the Mississippi. Hawkins represented the southern Los Angeles County area for nearly 30 years.

To learn more about the Augustus F. Hawkins Nature Park, click here.

Through the Kings Care Foundation, the LA Kings are dedicated to providing health, educational and recreational opportunities for youth throughout Greater Los Angeles. To learn more about the LA Kings social impact work and Kings Care Foundation, click here.