Dear Neighbors and Friends,
Our application for a City Neighborhood Grant for the amount of $3800 has been approved by the City Council, and work is in process to finalize a contract. This amount will cover most of the costs of two interpretive signs, one each for the Butterfly and Rain Gardens, and 3 Message Boards to be placed around the neighborhood. We are also partially funded for building and installing amenities at the Gardens, to include a picnic table, Leopold bench, bird house and bat box. We are planning for continued upkeep of the gardens, as well as adding features to make the area more inviting and informative to visitors.
Our work has just begun, as we are required to raise $800 from the neighborhood, as cash donations and in-kind contributions, and to contribute 100 volunteer hours. Your help is vitally important to the execution of our projects! There are many ways to contribute. Cash donations can be made via check, to CMNNA, and mailed to P.O. Box 46841, Madison, WI 53744. Any amount is welcome. Please put “2020 Grant” in the memo line. Cash donations to sponsor a particular item are also welcome, with suggested amounts as follows: Message Board, $350; Picnic Table, $150; Leopold Bench, $125; Bird or Bat House, $50.
We initially envisioned woodworking projects taking place as neighborhood events, but have had to modify this to be Covid-19 safe. We are hoping that families with some woodworking skills and children old enough to safely help will sign up to build an item, whether it is a bench, bird or bat roost box, or picnic table. We will make sure you are provided with clear plans and materials, and possibly tools on loan. Because of unavoidable delays, we won’t be carrying out these projects until September and October. But if you are at all interested in participating, please let us know now, by sending an email to info@cmnna.org
We are also actively engaged now and into the fall with maintenance of our Butterfly and Rain Gardens. This includes weeding, spreading bark mulch, and adding new plants. Please contact Carol at area6@cmnna.org to volunteer.
We will be soliciting local businesses for materials for our building projects, including lumber, hardware and concrete. But if you have such materials yourself, we welcome your donations. We also will need your time and help with setting posts into concrete for installation of message boards and interpretive signs, and perhaps for anchoring of other items.
For more information on any of the above ways to contribute, please send an email to Rachel Barker atlarge@cmnna.org, and Dennis Comerford area5@cmnna.org Thank you for your support of CMNNA and this project!
