Reeves-Reed Arboretum Receives $35k in Grants
The mission of Reeves-Reed Arboretum is to engage, educate, and enrich the lives of our constituents to become better stewards of nature and the planet. With an ever increasing visitorship – now over 100,000 annually – the Arboretum acknowledges and embraces its responsibility to make the grounds safe and welcoming to visitors of all abilities, and to fully embody the goals of its mission.
Thanks to recent funding from E.J. Grassman Trust, The Summit Foundation, The Summit Garden Club, and the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), the Arboretum was awarded a total of $35,000 in 2021. With COVID-19 still impacting the Arboretum’s operations this spring, the $10,000 grant from the Summit Foundation provided much needed general operating support.
“The $20,000 grant for repairs to our deer fence from E.J. Grassman Trust is timely; this summer we are experiencing a level of damage to our plantings from the deer that I have not seen in my 13 years of working here,” according to Jackie Kondel, Executive Director of the Arboretum. “The $2,500 grant from the NEEF Restoration and Resilience Fund will be used to remove invasive plants along the Wildflower Trail and replant the area with natives since many of the native species have been browsed by deer.” The work will be completed with a combination of volunteers and staff, including a seasonal gardener funded by The Summit Garden Club.
“We are so grateful for the support of our community partners,” says Kondel.
For more information about programs, events, workshops, camps and classes at Reeves-Reed Arboretum, please visit reeves-reedarboretum.org or call 908-273-8787 x1010.
Celebrating over 40 years as a historic public garden and education resource, Reeves-Reed Arboretum engages, educates and enriches the public through horticulture and environmental education, and the care and utilization of the gardens and estate. Open 7 days a week, the Arboretum is listed on both the National and New Jersey State Historic Registers. Funding for RRA has been made possible in part by the NJ Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State, through a grant administered by the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Dept. of Parks & Community Renewal. Reeves-Reed Arboretum….a place to grow, for everyone!
