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[music]
[Announcer] Chicago is a city of green.
A city that safe guards it's precious environment.
Welcome to "Chicago at Play."
[music]
[Sean Shaffer]There goes the kingfisher.
[Camden Cortes]Oh, he's up in the tree, yeah"
[Sean Shaffer] I know Camden's family.
I started with his older brother, started here
as a camper and he was
so excited he would bring his family back.
So Camden is kind of a legacy,
but he's creating his own way too.
He also started as a camper and then joined us
passing along all that passion
to the next generation.
[Camden Cortes] Well, I've been volunteering here for very long,
since I was little and as I grew I became more involved
with the North Park Nature Center.
And last year I began here as a Jr. camp counselor,
and I was able to teach the little children
and higher ages all about nature and how important it is.
[Announcer] Camden is one of a kind, with a love of nature
that he wants to share.
As a volunteer for the Chicago Park District,
he can do just that.
[Camden Cortes] Well, as a Jr. camp counselor, I see it as my duty
to show the little children, how important nature is.
And I think it's important that they understand it.
And I think that North Park Nature Center provides them a
learning at the same time,
and I see that as a very important thing to do.
I mean like, you can really just like shove things
in to their head and they really won't learn that way.
And North Park Nature Center provides them with the chance
to learn something and keep it in them,
and then they can pass it down to future generations.
[Sean Shaffer] We definitely see kids that have started
out in our preschool program, and kind of graduated
into summer camp at five and six.
And when they're old enough, some are campers and some want
to be jr. counselors too.
They can't get enough of nature so they come back and volunteer
and help out the younger kids and play all the games
that they remember playing
and passing along all the fun of playing in nature.
[Camden Cortes] I mean it's really fun.
It's a good thing to do, it gives you a sense of balance
from all outside society places on you.
It gives you a chance to sort of balance it out.
[Announcer] Volunteers at the North Park Village Nature Center can give
their support in many ways.
[Camden Cortes] We pull buckthorn and one time we set up a bat house
where the bats could go in.
[Sean Shaffer] Maybe we just need a vacancy sign.
[Camden Cortes] Bats needed!
[Sean Shaffer] Well, every Sunday and every Wednesday
from 9-12 we have restoration days.
So it's a day to get your hands dirty, get in there and help
out nature by removing invasives,
depending on the season, we will collect seeds
and process the seeds and spread them in new areas.
We will maintain the trails, there's always something to do,
there's always some way of getting
in there and helping nature.
[Camden Cortes] North Park Nature Center, it provides a sense of community
and everyone can come here, no one's pushed away
because of certain traits or characteristics.
Everyone here is welcome and it's definitely a place
where you can relax and enjoy nature.
[Sean Shaffer] I think people come for a variety of reasons.
Some people just want to pay nature back and be thankful
for all that it's given to us.
There's people that come because this is where their friends are,
they've made a great community of friends here and you see it,
there are people hanging out outside
of the nature center, too.
It's great to see high schoolers
who start getting their service hours that they're required
to graduate here and when they're done, they come back,
They've had too much fun, and they've made friends.
It's a great group.
We have everyone from high schoolers
and younger all the way to 70-80 year olds
that are really hard to keep up with.
It's great to see all the generations interact out here.
[Announcer] Like many families across Chicago,
Camden and his family appreciate the experiences
they've received at the Chicago Park District.
To find out more about volunteering
at the nature center,
visit chicagoparkdistrict.com
[Sean Shaffer] We've been a nature center for 30 years so we are starting
to see the next generations coming in,
and parents recreating experiences
that they've had here with their own kids.
[Camden Cortes] I think it's definitely a trait that sticks
with you, especially here.
If you learn to care for nature here, then you keep
with that skill and use it in your life as you go on.
I definitely think it's a skill that sticks with you.
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