Your financial gifts support ongoing education and restoration activities that grants do not fund.
For example, Plaster Creek Stewards was jump-started in 2009 by a gift from an anonymous donor that funded our first Program Coordinator. In addition, in 2020 donors gave over $25,000 to fund the Green Team (high school students learning and practicing skills in green infrastructure). This Green Team program is more than just skills—it’s about community building, introducing college and environmental careers, native plant and insect species, work skills, and making friendships across cultures. In 2023, 19 students benefited from the learning community and restoration practices. We also saw an increase in learning by 38% over the course of the three week sessions. Your gifts made it all possible.
The Green Team program provides rich learning opportunities for high school youth to increase their understanding of watershed issues and develop concrete job skills in rain garden and bioswale installations. By working alongside college students this experience also helps to demystify the college experience for youth who may not be considering higher education as an option.
This season, we want to meet the demand of a waiting list of high school students by continuing our expanded program for 20 more high school Green Team students. With inflation and wage increases, we need to raise funds again to make the program sustainable.
So, we are turning to our friends to ask for your help. $25,000 is needed to fully fund 2024 Plaster Creek Stewards Green Team. Gifts of any size would be greatly appreciated. Contributions of $10, $100, $1000 (or more!) will help us reach the goal. You can donate online by visiting our secure online donation site. At this site donations can also be directed as a general donation to Plaster Creek Stewards for the ongoing restoration work. These funds are used to support the education and research that equip and inspire us all to take better care of Plaster Creek.
If you prefer, checks can be made payable to Calvin University with “Plaster Creek Stewards” on the memo line and mailed to:
Calvin University Development Office
3201 Burton SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to Plaster Creek Stewards in your year-end giving and know how much we appreciate your valuable partnership in this work to restore health and beauty to the Plaster Creek watershed. Thanks for your careful consideration.