Friends of Greenwood Playground volunteer Dari Litchman personifies the lively logo she designed for her group: two birds trilling on a tree with hearts flowing from the beak of one like a waterfall.
“They are pouring out life,” says the lead organizer whose vim and vitality have helped to energize the 80-year-old playground on E. Fifth Street, between Fort Hamilton Parkway and Greenwood Avenue in Windsor Terrace, with cool programming, feel-good fairs, and big-hearted outreach efforts.
Litchman came on board six years ago when the group was fairly new, and she had left her job in the fashion corporate world after giving birth to her daughter. Eager to put her arts and crafts background to good use she connected instantly with the group of like-minded moms who wanted the neighborhood playground to be a fun place where everyone was welcome.
“I thought I could help out,” says the former camp counselor, who soon found herself in a leadership role, juggling her new duties with her day job as a real estate broker for Ideal Properties Group in Park Slope, her freelance work as a textile designer, helping out at her daughter’s school, and leading a Girl Scout Daisy troop.
The results are awesome. The group’s Facebook page has more than 700 likes. Hundreds of visitors flock to the annual Green-wood Stock, an all-day community frolic with entertainment, raffle prizes, and a flea market. Hundreds more come to the HOOT, a yearly Harvest Hootenanny featuring youth dancers, musicians, balloon sculptors, face painters, a pumpkin patch, and a kiddie costume parade.
“Over the years they have grown into really great and special neighborhood events,” says Litchman, 46, who funds the fun with mostly private donations.
Her free summer programming is another family-friendly smorgasbord of crowd-pleasers, including movie nights, arts and crafts, roller skating clinics, puppet shows, drumming circles, sing-a-longs, marching bands, science workshops, and cooking classes.
“There is something for everyone here,” says Litchman, an eagle-eyed steward of the space she calls “my playground.”
She is on a first-name basis with park supervisors and the local community affairs cop, and swiftly alerts authorities to any suspicious activity.
“Part of being in a community is keeping our kids safe,” says the chamberlain who also touches the lives of underprivileged children.
Litchman organizes holiday drives for the Gowanus-based group Little Essentials, collecting cribs, strollers, infant car seats, and other necessities for families in need.
“It says a lot about a person to be so caring, as Dari is, of their community,” says Sandi Trombert, the group’s founder and president.
Litchman is well known around town for her efforts. People approach her on the street and she frequently sees someone sporting an “I Love Greenwood Playground” T-shirt, validating her work at the bustling, block-long community magnet that has become a neighborhood institution — thanks to her friendship.
OCCUPATION: Organizer.
COMPANY: Friends of Greenwood Playground.
CLAIM TO FAME: Improving programming for our community.
FAVORITE PLACE: Frost Valley Y.M.C.A. in the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York.
WOMAN I ADMIRE: Nadia Lopez, principal of Mott Hall Bridges Academy in Brownsville, because she inspires children to believe in themselves by showing them how, and she is a model for self-love while teaching kids that all lives matter.
MOTTO: There’ll be plenty of time for sleeping when you’re dead.
