My Nonprofit Reviews
rhodyman
Review for FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL ARBORETUM INC, Washington, DC, USA
The Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) mobilizes resources to permit the National Arboretum to come alive with children's programs, festivals, plant sales, and educational programs. When the National Arboretum announced it was going to trash its azalea and boxwood collections because of a reduction in funding, FONA stepped in and has raised over a million dollars to save the azalea and boxwood collections. The story is not over. The campaign is still ongoing. See what happened at http://savetheazaleas.org
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When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2012
Review for FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL ARBORETUM INC, Washington, DC, USA
On November 9, 2010, Scott Aker of the US National Arboretum announced the Arboretum would destroy "National Boxwood Collection and the co-located Perennial Collections as well as the Glenn Dale Hillside portion of the Azalea Collection."
The independent website http://savetheazaleas.org was created to inform the public of this decision.
By February, 14, 2011, FONA had secured a $1 million donation and organized a campaign to raise a second million to save the azaleas and the boxwood. They rallied the major horticultural, plant, and garden societies to give their input and support this drive.
GREAT JOB!
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
I worked with FONA and supported FONA in getting this campaign started, and publicizing it. In this case they are working to save 1) the Heritage Collection of the USNA which draws over a hundred thousand visitor each year and 2) the International Boxwood Garden which is the only garden in the world that contains every registered boxwood cultivar.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Make sure they had a presence at the US National Arboretum to let the public know of their programs which include helping the USNA secure volunteers and funding of non-routine projects to enhance the USNA.
