Friends of the Garden
Friends of the Garden is a nonprofit organization supporting the Springfield Botanical Gardens in Springfield, Missouri. They maintain the gardens to create a welcoming environment where visitors can discover their local flora and fauna. Friends of the Garden aims to inspire their guests’ appreciation of nature. A favorite exhibit is the Roston Native Butterfly House. Visitors can enter a greenhouse-style building where native butterfly species live and flourish. There are also kiosks out front that house educational material. Over the years, the material has become weathered but still serves an important role in engaging the public. It is here that Random Acts Regional Representative Stacie Baldwin felt compelled to help.
Posters and Pollinator Habitats
Stacie has enjoyed the gardens and butterfly house for years; with the #GetKind theme of Environment, she felt now would be the perfect time to perform an act! She emailed Friends of the Garden to see if they had any needs. They returned with a list of suggested items for donation, with educational materials and bee habitats being of particular interest. Stacie purchased two vibrant posters for the educational kiosk outside of the butterfly house, one on the Monarch butterfly life cycle and another on the importance of pollinators. She also purchased three biodegradable pollinator habitats. The habitats are built using recycled paper covered in a water-resistant mineral coating. Their recyclable, biodegradable nature means they are safe to compost at the end of a season and minimize the risk of passing harmful parasites on to new bee colonies.
“It feels good knowing these items will be used for a long time and a lot of people and insects will benefit from them,” Stacie said. She is excited to visit the gardens once the posters are hung up, so she can see how visitors learn from the new materials.
Feeling Inspired?
If you would like to learn more about the Friends of the Garden or make a donation, please visit their website. If you would like to take an audio tour of the Roston Native Butterfly House, you can find their site here. The Random Acts Regional Representatives would love to help you find similar opportunities in your community! As always, thank you for supporting our mission to spread kindness and compassion!