Wild Ones 2019 Report on Grant Site Mentoring

by Kevin Mowery  
Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter Grants Committee

 Greetings Wild One Members.

In 2019, our Wild Ones Chapter awarded 8 grants totaling $3,400.  This brings the total number of grants awarded since 2007 to 55; 50 of which we believe are active today.

2019 was the inaugural year for our Wild Ones grant site mentoring initiative.  We asked members to serve as mentors for the sites we have made grants to since 2007.  You responded extremely well and we have mentors assigned to 47 of our 50 active grant sites.  Over 54% (27 out of 50) of these were visited and reported to the Grant Committee in 2019.  For those of you who have not yet been able to visit your site, there is still time left!  If you have made contact with your site or have problems or questions, please contact Kathy Bildner (kbildner@aol.com) or Kevin Mowery (kmmowe@gmail.com).

For those of you who have not signed up as mentors for a site, or who want to mentor an additional site, we have three sites available to “adopt”.

If anyone is interested in mentoring these sites, please let Kathy or Kevin know. The responsibilities of a mentor are in the Site Mentor Responsibilities document (click to download)

Most members have found the grant site mentoring to be an interesting and rewarding experience.  We have gotten some great feedback from the grant sites. It is exciting to share the wonders of native plants in the St. Louis area! 

For example, see the attached photo of black swallowtail caterpillars on Golden Alexanders planted in the Wings of Hope Pollinator Garden, which received a $500 grant in 2018

Another success story is the Exploration Station at Hillsboro Day Care Center, which received a $200 grant in 2018 – (Joan Gray, Wild Ones Mentor).  The site contact shared these comments:

“I wanted to share a quick picture of our beautiful butterfly garden with you! It honestly did well its first summer (we even got some caterpillars!) but this year is even better. Every single plant we planted came back and is big and gorgeous! Thank you again for the grant. We enjoy the garden every day!!!”