Annual Campaign 2011

It might be cold outside but the Gardens on Spring Creek is still a special place for the community to enjoy. Our gardens offer respite and beauty even in the winter months and Garden of Lights brings visitors from all over northern Colorado.

It is also the season that we celebrate the year's accomplishments and reflect on how we have impacted the lives of our community members.

Since our opening in 2004, The Gardens has become a gathering place for northern Colorado residents and their guests.
So far this year, we have welcomed over 37,000 visitors from 11 countries, 34 states, and 31 Colorado towns. People come to enjoy a quiet oasis in the middle of town, be inspired by the beautiful gardens that change with every season, and enjoy time with friends and families at our community events.

The Gardens is also a place for learning.
Over 1,400 children learned about gardening and nature in Read and Seed, Ready! Set! Grow!, and Spring Break and Summer Camp. Plus, 1,265 students visited The Gardens on school field trips. Over 1,000 adults came to discover new methods for gardening sustainably at landscape symposiums and adult education classes. They also let their creativity flow in watercolor, sketching, and crafting classes, and enjoyed cooking classes on summer evenings in the Outdoor Teaching Kitchen.

“It’s fun to share in the kids’ excitement of discovery as we look at plant seeds through a microscope or see their favorite food plant growing in the Garden of Eatin’.”
– Ann Winslow, Youth Program Volunteer

Even as the community came to us, we reached out to the community.
We donated 4,500 pounds of fresh produce harvested from the Garden of Eatin' to the Food Bank for Larimer County. As a drop-off location for the Food Bank, we collected an additional 1,200 pounds of produce from the community. We initiated the pilot program for the Family Gardening Series: five low-income families attended vegetable gardening and healthy cooking classes and gained the knowlege to grow their own produce and prepare healthy meals for their families. Also, The Gardens partnered with the Boys and Girls Club and Share Our Strength to hold Cooking Matters™, a nutrition education program.

“My dad told me we need to share when we have too much in our garden.”
- the 6 year-old boy who proudly dropped off one green bean, three radishes, one yellow squash and one cherry tomato at The Gardens as part of our partnership with the Food Bank for Larimer County.

It is only with your financial support that we are able to bring these valuable programs to the community.
This year we are launching our first Annual Campaign and we need your continued help to make these priority programs possible. Won’t you help us?

Your tax-deductible donation will help us to continue and expand our Youth and Adult Education Programs and the Community Garden Outreach Program so that we can impact more lives with the positive power of horticulture.

Make your donation online, call us at 970-416-2486, or mail in your gift to the address below.

Together we can...Take Root. Grow. Flourish.

Thank you,
Michelle Provaznik
Executive Director
and Kevin Borchert Board President, Friends of the Gardens on Spring Creek

Gardens on Spring Creek
2145 Centre Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80526