KINGSTON — When members of the Pacific Northwest Horticultural Conservancy discovered they had been given an anonymous matching donation of up to $25,000, they were thrilled by the generosity. When they heard there was a string attached in the form a three week deadline to raise at least $10,000, they buckled down the way gardeners do during planting season.
And, with a little help from green thumbs throughout the nation, PNHC managed to surpass the maximum donation with $32,000, raising a total of $57,000 by Dec. 31, 2006.
“I think it’s fair to say we were very surprised and delighted by the donations,” said PNHC president Lee Neff. “That money is going to be used in the endowment fund for educational uses, so if someone buys the property, we can hold classes there. We’re working on buying the property right now.”
The land on 288th Street in Kingston once housed the internationally-known Heronswood Nursery, until it was moved to Pennsylvania by the W. Atlee Burpee Company in May 2006. The property still holds what is left of the gardens.
Neff and other PNHC members are also working on raising funds to buy the 15-acre garden. Donations still arriving from throughout the nation will go toward classes and researching different plants once the property has been purchased. The anonymous donor approached the Kitsap Community Foundation in December to set up the matching donation, said KCF board president Don Poggi.
“It’s wonderful, especially because they had only three weeks to get the money,” he said. “I think when there is a need, and people hear about it, they want to help. It’s amazing how many generous people there are in the world.”
KCF executive director Jennifer Green said she received checks and letters from as far away as Idaho, Oregon, Canada, California and Wisconsin though the majority of return addresses were from Washington.
“Once the effort got underway, I think the e-mail that was passed along really got energy going in different groups and people,” she said. “The regional response was initially amazing, we are really pleased with how everyone rose to the challenge.”
Even so, many steps remain before the property can be purchased outright, Neff said. PNHC members have been meeting regularly with Burpee representatives, and everyone is positive about the direction of the discussions, she said.
Another meeting will take place at the end of the month, and after that, Neff said they will have a better idea of how to approach the purchase.
“It’s a very, very wonderful thing,” said PNHC fund-raising chairwoman Elizabeth Drury. “It’s a tremendous thing that sparked saving the Heronswood property. Now that we have established the endowment fund, we are quite hopeful to be able to gain the property, too.”
