NORWICH – The city parks commission is receiving some extra help from a new volunteer organization to clean up parks this year in hopes of making each one a better and safer place for the community.

The new organization, which is currently nameless, originated in January as a volunteer fundraising committee for Kurt Beyer Pool. Following the city’s announcement that it lacked funding to repair the pool for a second consecutive year, the organization launched a Facebook campaign to raise money.

Since then, donations from the Greater Norwich Foundation, RC Smith Foundation and Roger Follett Foundation have allowed the city to move forward with pool renovations. But while volunteers in the newly-formed committee still plan to cary out fundraising efforts, their overall mission has changed.

The eight active volunteers of the group began to focus on the clean-up and improvements of all six of the city’s parks. Plans to assist the Norwich Parks Commission and Norwich Public Works Department came to fruition when Jacki Glenn, coordinator for the new organization, addressed the commission at a January meeting.

“They were more than welcoming. Everyone’s been very open and willing to accept what we’re doing,” Glenn said of the organization’s collaboration.