Millis Recreation won the 2022 Massachusetts Recreation and Park Association’s Agency of the Year Award – Program Outreach for “Project Smile.” This award is given to the agency that used creative and innovative concepts and ideas around a new or improved program over and above regular programming that demonstrates a great benefit to the community/facility.

Project Smile was created and sponsored by the Millis Recreation Department and, over the last year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, gave residents something to smile about! In May 2021, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Millis Recreation Department launched Project Smile around town. The Millis Recreation Department, led by director Kris Fogarty, invited local artists to help foster positive self-images by painting outside murals around town for the community to seek out during walks. The purpose of the murals was to encourage outdoor activity and to take fun selfies with a positive vibe to help lift the spirit of the community during this difficult time. The project was a huge hit and resulted in many smiles and lots of outdoor activity of residents seeking out the murals and then positing positive images on social media. (Source: www.millisma.gov/)