Visitors to Georgia’s state parks see the trails, picnic shelters, campgrounds, lakes and other amenities, but much of the work that helps improve and preserve those parks is supported by volunteers working behind the scenes.

That was evident again recently at James H. “Sloppy” Floyd State Park, where members of the Friends of Sloppy Floyd State Park spent several weekends making needed repairs to Shelter 1.

The group reported that after the latest workday, the shelter still needed rails added before the project would be ready for the next picnic or family gathering. Photographs shared by the organization show volunteers working on the wooden structure and replacing portions of the shelter area.

The work is part of a much larger volunteer effort taking place at state parks and historic sites across Georgia.

Friends Groups Support Parks Across Georgia

Friends of Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites is a nonprofit organization that partners with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to support, preserve and enhance state parks and historic sites.

More than 50 local Friends chapters work directly with individual parks and historic sites. According to the statewide organization, volunteers contributed approximately 75,000 hours of service last year, representing more than $2.25 million in estimated value.

Their work varies considerably from one park to another.

Volunteers may maintain and improve trails, work on landscaping and conservation projects, assist with educational programs, help preserve historic resources, raise money for improvements or provide manpower for special events. Local chapters also raise money that can be used for projects and programs at the parks they support.

In other words, Friends volunteers don’t replace the people who operate Georgia’s state parks. Instead, they provide additional people, money and resources that allow individual parks to accomplish projects that might otherwise be difficult to undertake.

Friends Of Sloppy Floyd Has Been Helping Since 2008

At Sloppy Floyd State Park, that partnership has been in place for years.

The local Friends chapter was organized in 2008 to support programs, improvements, beautification and services at the park. An earlier account of the organization says the group grew in part out of the need for a local organization to handle money generated by the Twisted Ankle Trail Race.

Since then, volunteers have taken on projects large and small.

The statewide Friends organization has previously highlighted the Sloppy Floyd chapter as a “small but powerful group of volunteers.”

Among its past projects was development and continued maintenance of a wildlife garden, initially supported by a 2015 Chapters In Action grant. The group also received funding from the Tillotson-Menlo Charitable Foundation to purchase four swings for the park and established a Little Free Library in the campground.

The chapter has also helped sponsor events through the years, including Easter activities, car shows, the Twisted Ankle race and Outdoor Adventure Day.

Another longtime Friends volunteer described duties ranging from picking up litter and spreading mulch to operating a tractor and helping remove fallen trees. That volunteer noted that Sloppy Floyd operates with a relatively small park staff, making the additional help particularly valuable.

Supporting One Of Chattooga County’s Most Popular Attractions

James H. “Sloppy” Floyd State Park is located off Sloppy Floyd Lake Road near Summerville and is surrounded by rural countryside and the Chattahoochee National Forest.

The park features two stocked fishing lakes, lake-loop hiking trails, a campground, cottages, playground and boardwalk, and provides access to the nearby Pinhoti Trail. The park was named for longtime Chattooga County legislator James H. “Sloppy” Floyd, who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1953 until 1974.

For the Friends volunteers, however, supporting the park sometimes comes down to much less glamorous jobs — replacing boards, repairing a shelter, maintaining landscaping or simply putting in several weekends of physical labor.

The current work on Shelter 1 is another example.

When the rails are installed and families once again use the shelter for picnics and gatherings, many visitors may never know who repaired it.

But that’s largely the point of the Friends program: local volunteers giving their time to help preserve and improve a public place that belongs to everyone.

The Friends of Sloppy Floyd welcomes people interested in helping support the park, and the statewide Friends organization says its local chapters depend on volunteers, financial contributions and community involvement.