We’ve crossed the threshold of our one-month anniversary at 909 Portage Avenue, and what a month it’s been. It’s been an absolute pleasure to meet so many new neighbors, friends, and plant lovers over the past four weeks, and your support means the world to us. Thank you for believing in and supporting our mission of connecting people to plants.
It feels like we’re beginning to find our new rhythm… ish. No two weeks or days have been the same, as we’re constantly learning, tweaking, changing, and adapting to our new surroundings. With so many people buying plants, we’ve stepped up our efforts to ensure we have a steady supply of new green goodness coming your way on a regular basis. We’re adding new shelving to maximize the plants we can squeeze into our space and we’re welcoming new makers, artists, and growers just about every week, with more are on the way.
We’ve also been blown away by your generosity in supporting our Green Fund program. This is a new initiative for us and launched with our opening one month ago. At checkout, we offer the option to leave a “tip” and all tips go into the Green Fund, earmarked for community beautification efforts in the Near Northwest Neighborhood, the place we now call home. We’ve already raised more than $500, yet another demonstration that many “small” actions can quickly add up to something big.
On that note, we’re excited to share our first community partner project to be supported by the Green Fund. We’ll be collaborating with teachers and leaders at Muessel Elementary School, just a few blocks West of the Botany Shop, on a variety of projects from beautifying the exterior of the school to adding indoor plants and refreshing plantings in an interior courtyard. Taken together, these efforts will help to connect our community to plants and their potential in new and exciting ways. We’re still working out the details, and soon we’ll put out a call to those who have opted to become a Green Corps volunteer with a request for extra hands to help make it happen.
Our collaboration with Muessel is our first community project, and we constantly have our ears and eyes open to learn about new ideas and opportunities from neighbors. If you have an idea to share, stop in or send us an email. We’d love to chat.
Stay tuned over the next few weeks for exciting announcements as we plan to expand our hours in September, introduce new plants and makers, and so much more. Keep growing, friends, and thank you for all. We do what we do because of and for you.