More than 100 employees volunteered their time in mid-January to help Citizens Energy Group and its partner companies refurbish Watkins Park Family Center as a part of the 14th Sharing the Dream project to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Together, nearly 20 organizations contributed about $100,000, either monetarily or in-kind, to upgrade the facility.
Partner companies completed major projects, including installing new security cameras, LED lighting, audio-visual equipment, and furniture; transforming a storage room into a reception area; repairing restrooms; and replacing an exterior access ramp. On January 13 and 14, Citizens employees helped put the finishing touches on the facility by painting walls and murals, cleaning, and organizing.
“I am so thankful for our partners and our employees who were a part of Sharing the Dream this year. They have made a lasting impact on Watkins Park and our community,” said Jennifer Mentink, project manager for the annual event.
Citizens President & CEO Jeffrey Harrison visited the facility with Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Indy Parks Director Phyllis Boyd during Citizens’ volunteer event.
Watkins Park is in the King Commons neighborhood, which is part of Citizens’ Neighborhood Ambassador Program. The park has a rich tradition of offering youth and senior programs and services, and hosting weddings, family events, civic meetings, and other gatherings in the Near Northwest community. 
Weld Shop Makes Project Possible
Citizens and its partners operate on a tight schedule to pull off Sharing the Dream each year.
Crit Crabtree, also a project manager for Sharing the Dream, said that all the major work needs to be done by Citizens’ partner companies before our employees are scheduled to complete finishing touches such as cleaning and painting on the last Thursday and Friday of the project. 
“Indy Parks typically hosts a community open house the following Monday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), inviting the public to come and see the improvements to the facility,” he said, “so we want to have everything looking just like we envisioned it would when we put together the plans.”
Crabtree said that just like most well-laid plans, there are always unexpected challenges.
Included in the scope of work was installing café-style tables. Unfortunately, the tables that arrived were the wrong height for the space, and even after numerous calls to the supplier, it was not going to be possible to get the correct tables in time.
Crabtree put in a call for help, as in years past, to Jim Bennett, Manager of Gas Distribution, who oversees the weld shop at Langsdale. Bennett arranged to bring the tables to Langsdale. David Hix, Welder Crew Leader, (pictured at left) jumped right in to get the table bases cut down to the correct height, weld them back together, and get them back to Watkins Park so they could be installed before the project needed to be wrapped up at the end of the day on Friday.
Hix also made a custom speaker and receiver mount for the sound system that was installed in the gym at the Family Center.
“Jim always steps up when last-minute help is needed during Sharing the Dream,” said Crabtree. “I cannot express how appreciative I am of Jim and David for being so ready and willing to support this project.”
Thank You!
A special thank you goes to Sharing the Dream Project Managers Crit Crabtree and Jennifer Mentink, who spend countless hours each year preparing for the event, including building relationships with Indy Parks and Indy Parks Alliance staff, choosing the park, planning the scope of work, managing the volunteer effort, and much more.
Citizens appreciates all the work done by our partner companies and our employees. We thank them for their efforts to make Sharing the Dream successful, especially Mitsch Design and Peine Engineering. Other partners include A.G. Maas, ASI Global Partitions; Connor Fine Painting; Denney Companies; Energy Plus Credit Union; General Communications Inc.; Greene’s Auto & Truck Service; IRE; McGath Concrete; Mainscape; Nishida Services, Inc.; Powers and Sons Construction Co.; Pulse Electric; Refined Restoration; SSI Services, Inc.; and Wagner Signs.
