December 23, 2024 Dear ::subscriber.first_name::,
In this season of reflection, we’ve been thinking about the ways Boxerwood’s earthcare work also embodies simple, enduring values so many of us hold dear. Values like Joy, Hope, Beauty. Like Community, like Generosity. Values that shine bright especially in complicated times. Your support means Boxerwood can keep seeding these values into the world one child, one tree, and garden wonderland at a time – and we thank you. As our gift to you, may this 12-month photo sampler inspire your own bright lights in the months ahead. Yours for a thriving Earth, The Boxerwood Team
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Preschoolers have been on the planet less than five years: an essential time for bonding with one another and the natural world. Sharing the JOY in local preschool classrooms all winter long are Boxerwood early ed instructors Jess Sullivan and Caroline Coons plus puppet friends. |
Schoolkids already know and care about the problem of marine plastic pollution, yet they often feel powerless to do anything about it. Our Ocean Protectors program helps children make the connection between local actions and healthy seas. In sync with the Rockbridge Clean-Up, 507 elementary students each made a personal COMMITMENT to keep our land litter-free, their colorful pledges fluttering in the breeze in downtown Lexington and Natural Bridge State Park. |
This year Boxerwood facilitated five community tree plantings involving more than two hundred youthful volunteers, 308 native trees, and multiple carbon sequestration offsets for COREworks. That’s HOPE for the Earth, and also us Earthlings, learning how to work together for a world we want. |
Boxerwood in April – nature’s bounty and BEAUTY to welcome and soothe the soul. Thank you for supporting our work to tend this treasured woodland garden. |
This spring, 80 households new to composting enrolled in our ten-week Backyard Compost Challenge. By May, they'd reach week ten and diverted two tons of food waste from the landfill. Their success reminds us about the collective power of making a positive CHANGE. |
Where will your path of WONDERtake you? June is a busy month for Boxerwood, when we facilitate camps both in the garden and beyond. All children deserve summer fun, and with your help we’re reaching more kids than ever before. |
Rest, recreation, RESTORATION – all part of the Boxerwood experience, plus outdoor music on a warm summer evening. Music In the Garden, a local tradition. |
The Garden too is our teacher, calling us into COMMUNITY to find our welcoming place in the circle of life. |
This fall, more than 900 children in six elementary schools committed to daily, ongoing lunchroom composting with the Boxerwood Waste Busters program – that’s DEDICATION! |
Our annual 3-day trip to the Chesapeake Bay helps middle schoolers make the CONNECTION between their own lives and the wider world, and their role in its care. |
As a financially lean and nimble non-profit, Boxerwood carries out its stewardship mission with a small, mostly part-time staff and many special friends. Thank you to all our volunteers (including Frances Richardson, above) for their talents, goodwill, and spirit of GENEROSITY. |
Boxerwood's mission is to educate and inspire people of all ages to become environmentally responsible stewards of the Earth. That work includes annually introducing every local 4th grader to earth-care basics (including wintertime water quality monitoring!). In the end, though, as in the beginning, it’s all about LOVE. Thank you for being part of it all. |
Boxerwood's $45k Fundraising Goal |
For 25 years, Boxerwood has been a force for good in Rockbridge, reconnecting people with nature, with one another, and with a shared sense of purpose. This winter, our goal is to raise $45k: a figure representing less than 10% of our operating budget, yet a vital investment in our mission. |
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