Garden Club of Englewood Helps Fund Outdoor Classroom

September 23, 2021

Gift Provides Immersive Nature Learning Experiences

The Garden Club of Englewood (GCE) and the New Jersey Committee (NJC) of The Garden Club of America (GCA) recently made several generous donations to Flat Rock Brook Nature Center, a 150-acre preserve and education center on the western slope of the Palisades in Englewood, New Jersey. The gifts will go towards building an outdoor classroom designed to provide immersive nature learning experiences for students in the community. 

A $10,000 check from GCE celebrated the club’s long-term partnership with the nature center and represents $100 for each of the club’s 100 years. In addition, the club applied for and received a $15,00 grant from The New Jersey Committee. The club’s history with Flat Rock Nature Center began with the nature center’s founding in 1973. In 1992, GCE received a Founders Fund Award of $20,000 to help the nature center reestablish the native ecology of a former quarry by planting native trees, shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers. A small demonstration garden of native plants was also created. In 2018, new plantings at the entrances to the Nature Center were added, again thanks to funding from GCE and the NJC.

That same year, the club began funding scholarships for children attending the Summer Nature Day Camp. In 2020, the club funded an internship for an Englewood High School student to work at the summer camp and has continued its support with an additional $1,500 donation this year. 

The GCA has four Area Committees: Boston, New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia. They were formed to combine the resources and talents of member clubs in a concentrated geographic area to accomplish major community projects that could not easily be carried out by a single club. The Area Committees are comprised of representatives of  GCA member clubs and may include representatives from other related organizations who share the mission of the member clubs. 

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