Create next generation of environmental stewards

Environmental Education for Children - 1/19/12 

As mentioned in the last report in October, the Friends received notice of a $500,000 gift from the Gray Family Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation which will be an endowment to generate $25,000 annually specifically to fund our environmental education programs. Any funds generated through the GlobalGiving site would go to achieving our 2:1 match (which must be made in order to receive this annual contribution). We are indebted to the Gray Family for their faith in the Friends to continue to produce meaningful programs as well as for all the community environmental organizations and initiatives that they support. This is a significant gift for FOTC and one that will help stabilize and sustain our programs for years to come. We will kick off a formal fund drive this spring to meet this match and will make sure there is pertinent information on this site so donors will know how to best support this effort.

The strategic planning effort finished in the fall of 2011 had a number of key outcomes:

- It solidified the focus of the organization connecting all our programs around the concept of making sure we instill an ethic of stewardship in all we touch. This is especially significant with our children's programming as we hope to stem the tide of children who feel a disconnect with nature and more comfortable in front of their electronic devices.

- It focused the organization's energy on fund raising as the main activity of the board of directors. Historically a board that was very involved in program management and oversight, we are slowly transitioning to a new kind of board - one committed to bringing additional resources to the Friends so we can sustain this important work. In December we received our first capacity building grant from the Oregon Community Foundation for $15,000 so we can bring on some professional fund raising support on staff and get this process started.

Executive Director David Cohen was asked to become a charter board member of the Intertwine Alliance, a four county consortium of nature-based governmental, non-profit and for profit entities trying to bring more resources to the area so all of us can continue to expand our efforts to protect the environment and promote connecting with nature amongst our residents and visitors. It is a prestigious group of park directors, environmental activists, government leaders and private business leaders who care very much about these issues, and the Friends are honored to be asked to play a role in getting this idea some traction.

The Friends had a successful fall serving thousands of school children through our field trip program and are busy signing up field trips for the spring session. As one of the few organizations with access to a large, strategically located urban forest, one with a nature center which houses a dedicated environmental education classroom spaces, we are ideally suited to continue to increase the number of children we can reach and begin them on the road to environmental stewardship.