Lake Park Hometown Pride is a local committee of passionate residents, leaders, and volunteers committed to improving and beautifying our city. We’re part of Keep Iowa Beautiful’s statewide Hometown Pride program that empowers towns across Iowa to dream big and achieve lasting change. Our goals are to enhance amenities, cultivate local leadership, foster civic pride, boost economic vitality, and promote collaboration.
Our Goals
enhance amenities
cultivate local leadership
foster civic pride
boost economic vitality
promote collaboration
Projects
Silver Lake City Park Improvements
The Lake Park Hometown Pride Committee has secured funding for this initiative through grants and local donations. We’re proud to share that the full $3 million needed for Phase One is secured, with construction expected to begin in spring 2026!
Lake Park Farm-To-Fork
The Lake Park Hometown Pride Committee hosted this first annual event in June of 2025, raising nearly $9,000 toward the Silver Lake City Park Improvements. The Committee is planning this event for 2026 to support an additional community initiative aligned with the goals of Hometown Pride – stay tuned for more information!
Lake Park Market on Market
While Lake Park isn’t new to farmers markets, this farmer and vendor market was created from public input highlighting the desire for a farmers market and Market Street improvements. Often times where there is activity there is investment. We’re happy to share that the event was a hit, and surveys show interest in continuing this effort in 2026! More information to come on the 2026 season!
Christmas
We’re already gearing up for the 2026 Christmas season and outlining ways to incorporate more holiday cheer into Lake Park – reach out if you’d like to be involved!
Community Survey
We released a Community Survey in 2025 to help us better understand the community’s wants and needs! With over 130 responses, top-ranking priorities included parks/playgrounds, downtown improvements, trails/sidewalks, and flowers/trees. Respondents like events centered around farmers markets, concerts, and food festivals. They are also in support of many projects already in the works (e.g. EMS, Housing, Childcare), so communication and sharing volunteer opportunities is key! (Survey results below!)
Partnerships
One of our goals is to expand our community’s capacity through partnerships. We’ve worked in partnership on a variety of initiatives including the 2025 Harvest Festival, Heritage Square Museum, and Harris-Lake Park Childcare Assessment. Organizations seeking support are encouraged to reach out!
2025 Survey Results
Learn More
The Hometown Pride Program was created in 2012, and was established in Lake Park and 9 other northwest Iowa communities in December of 2024. The program is a partnership between each participating community and Keep Iowa Beautiful, providing participating communities with 5 years of matched funding for the cost of a Hometown Pride “coach”. The coach is a community development expert who assists communities’ local Hometown Pride committees to identify and complete projects that address pressing community needs. For more information visit Keep Iowa Beautiful-Hometown Pride Program.