Matt King knows how to get creative. He was named 2024 Volunteer of the Year by the city’s Department of Youth, Parks, & Community Enrichment, thanks to his creative efforts to revitalize William Chorley Park in South Sacramento.
“Even the parks department didn’t want to go there,” King says. “It had been ignored for about 10 years. The grass was 7-feet high. There was graffiti all over the bathroom. There were feces and needles all over the playground, drug and gang activity. It was bad and just got worse.”
A longtime South Sac resident, King took matters into his own hands after he saw a post on Nextdoor lamenting the state of the park. He realized uplifting this asset in his neighborhood would align with his own “journey to uplift.”
As a union carpenter, King has skills to make changes happen. As a recovered alcoholic and meth addict who celebrates 27 years of sobriety, he was involved in AA before neighborhood activism.
“I don’t mind helping others because in turn, that’s what helps me stay sober,” King says. “Giving back to my community is the best way to fight anxiety and depression.”
He started with cleaning up Chorley Park. Next, he painted the bathrooms. Then he sought help from elected officials, “looking up phone numbers and yelling at people like (former city councilmember) Jay Schenirer,” he says.
“I would put them on blast until they did something,” King says. “It got me a little ways and people started paying a little attention to it.”
When Caity Maple took over Schenirer’s South Sac seat, King formed a relationship with her and city parks officials. Progress followed.
King encouraged SMUD to upgrade the park lights. With help from Maple and grants, a new playground arrived.
King’s big win was installation of the city’s only 18-hole Frisbee golf course, thanks to a partnership with the Sacramento Disc Golf Association.
“All that sweat equity paid off,” King says. “There are families and kids there now. These kids needed this. Not everybody has the luxury of going to the movies or spending time at a mall, so where do they get to go? To a park.”
King founded the nonprofit Chorley Park Community Association to raise funds to put in other amenities like a splash pad. He and his wife Lindsey throw events such as Trunk or Treat and Old School Sundays with classic cars and live music, often funded from their own pockets.
When not focused on Chorley Park, King plants trees at parks across town. He helps at a community woodshop in Oak Park and works on reactivating the community garden at John Morse Therapeutic Center for at-risk special needs kids.
He partnered with Maple and SMUD on Project Be the Light in Meadowview, where he and 80 volunteers put up Christmas lights on 35 houses.
“It really brought out the community and brought a sense of the holiday spirit back to the hood,” King says.
It’s no surprise the city parks team named King its 2024 Volunteer of the Year.
“I don’t want to be in the spotlight like that,” he says. “I’m doing it because maybe when I die, I can say, ‘I did that.’”
Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
