December 19, 2025

Dear Friends,

Homespun good cheer to you despite a challenging year. Here at the grassroots level, there’s still plenty of good news to share. This year, Boxerwood found plenty of ways to make a difference – one child, one household, and one beloved community at a time. Thank you, from our heart to yours, for being part of it all.

With peace & goodwill,

The Boxerwood Team

What makes Boxerwood’s good news possible? You. As the year draws to a close, we want to thank everyone who has already supported Boxerwood in 2025 — and to offer a gentle reminder that our Year-End Appeal is still underway.

Nonprofits like Boxerwood depend on donations to carry forth their good work, especially in challenging times. Your end-of-year gift helps us care for this place, support our staff and educators, and keep Boxerwood welcoming and thriving for our community. With your help, we can pay the mortgage, keep the lights on, and sail into 2026 with a song in our heart.

Thank you to all who have already given, and to those who are considering a year-end gift. Your support makes it possible for Boxerwood to carry out its ever-steady mission: to educate and inspire people of all ages to become environmentally responsible stewards of the Earth.

Early and often. Winter, spring, summer, and fall – Boxerwood befriended more than 300 preschoolers this year. Did you know we offer these programs without charge? Thank you, donors! Click here to learn more about our educational programs.

Yes, we can! As part of our annual Ocean Protectors outreach, 485 schoolchildren from 5 schools wrote personal anti-littering pledges this year, another way of helping aquatic animals all the way to the sea. Yes, we can make a difference wherever we live.

Got slop? In the past five years, our annual Backyard Compost Challenge has ushered 400 local households into the joys of composting, with 98% of families continuing their new Earth-friendly habits after the challenge ends. Learn more here.

Plant it. This spring, hundreds of kids across Rockbridge County potted up 600 bare-root seedlings for future river protection projects and community giveaways. This beloved Boxerwood program grows forests and Earth stewards at the same time. Learn more here.

Celebrating our NEST. Project NEST stands for Nurturing Environmental Stewardship Together, and this year 2,286 individual children participated in our hands-on school partnership program. Boxerwood provides the nature-based programs, schools pay what they can, and donors cover the rest. Learn more here.

Campooloza. Nature Detective camps, preschool camps, summer school camps, special days with the Y. Yoga, play, art. Turtles, frogs, and friends. Hammocks, wonder, and joy. We did it all.

Onwards. This summer, Boxerwood led a series of work sessions with local teachers to imagine how to more deeply root nature-based learning into school operations. The path forward became more challenging after the unexpected loss of a federal grant, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. Learn more here.

Sweet memories. Warm evenings & picnic blankets, a fine string band warming up their tunes: what could be more lovely than time with friends and another summer season of Music in the Garden? 

Bay connections. We’ve been taking a busload of 7th graders to the Chesapeake Bay for so many years, we’re now seeing kids of kids who came before. Meanwhile, the waves slosh, the pelicans swoop, and another group of Rockbridge youth discover their place in the wider world. See more photos here. 

Full circle. With their signature vision and generosity, Hunter Mohring and Karen (KB) Bailey donated ownership and operation of The Meadow to Boxerwood this year. Acquisition of this natural burial ground strengthens our mission and broadens the ways Boxerwood serves our community. Earth stewardship, from cradle to grave. Learn more here.

Slow the flow. Kudos to the garden team for installing an additional stormwater management practice for Boxerwood. The new pair of barn barrels join another at the Roost, our berm and swale system, and several rain gardens in continual efforts to reduce soil erosion and protect waterways downstream. Learn more here. 

Parade love. When snow forced the cancellation of the Lexington Christmas parade, we took our joy down the road to Glasgow! Crafted by Boxerwood’s own Jess Sullivan and her artist-engineer husband Jay, Boxerwood’s biannual floats are legendary for their creative use of natural materials and their imaginative wonder. This year, our greenery-bedecked float featured “Twiggy,” a full-sized steed shaped by Jay from Boxerwood vines. Thank you to Jess, Jay, and all the hardy volunteers who braved the weather to bring more beauty into our waiting world.

Looking for a last-minute stocking stuffer? Make a donation to COREworks, our carbon-offset marketplace, and we'll send you or your loved one a handsome certificate that details how your gift benefits our community while also sequestering a verified tone of carbon. Now that's a gift that keeps on giving!

Throughout our 25th year, we’re sharing stories of young people whose Boxerwood experiences shaped their passions and vocations. Have a young friend to recommend? Contact Catherine Epstein: catherine@boxerwood.org

“I feel really lucky that since I was 5, I’ve lived down the road,” Maya DeHart explained. “It feels like Boxerwood has been my neighbor.” She attended summer camps as a kid and was later a Boxerwood camp counselor. “It’s a community fixture, and it’s also been a fixture in my interaction with nature,” Maya said. “When I think about protecting the natural world, Boxerwood comes to mind…I’m lucky that growing up in Rockbridge, there’s so much beauty in the area. But seeing the way that Boxerwood has been cared for so intentionally feels like a special space that’s been cultivated to remind people of the joy of the natural world.”

Boxerwood Education Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Federal Tax ID: 54-1937944

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