Super Plant Sale Days
It was a wonderful weekend Plant Sale with plenty of pre-order pick-up and additional retail sales. And now that the dust has settled a bit, we are pleased to report that the Plant Sale raised over $41,000 to help provide tuition assistance to families at PIC who struggle with the cost of care.
We were thrilled to welcome over 200 people—PIC families, staff, alumni, friends, and neighbors—on Friday and Saturday when we opened the doors to the chapel next to PIC.
With over 640 pre-orders placed there was lots to do to prepare for the weekend. We had help from over 60 volunteers who cleaned the chapel, unloaded plants from trucks, filled orders, and helped our customers as they arrived to pick up their plants. This spring fundraiser would not be possible without all their hard work and dedication.
See Plant Sale volunteers in action
But work on the Plant Sale did not begin last week. It started in early Februrary with the formation of the 2014 Plant Sale Committee. We especially want to thank Co-chairs Jill Shashaty and Marni Fogelson-Teel, along with committee members Aimee Ando and Stephanie Kearney who worked on our bake sale, Kirsten Knox who put together the Raffle Basket, Qufei Wu who worked with Marni to sign up volunteers, Mari O’Byrne who headed up KidPots, Lisa Weidman who created our center bulletin boards, and Rainbow teacher Denise Brice who worked on the Garden Party.
Our all important plant selection volunteers included Jill Shashaty, Executive Director Deb Green, former PIC Executive Director and alumni parent Cindy Roberts, and alumni parent Jim Wilson.
We are also grateful for the strong administrative support the event had from Eagles Teacher Carolane Mitchell
Between Friday, Saturday, and our additional Monday porch sale, we moved most of our plant inventory. As much as we sell, there is always some left over. Each year, we reach out to other community organizations who will make good use of the plants.
This year our remaining KidPots are being sent to Jane Addams Place in West Philadelphia. The emergency homeless shelter runs a number of programs to help families regain housing and employment, groups for children and teens, and health and dental services. They have up to 29 mothers with their children at any one time and the pots are being brought over as a Mother’s Day gift.
Our remaining annuals, perennials, and herbs will be shared with the avid gardners at the HMS School for children with cerebral palsy. Located close by on Baltimore Avenue, they have wonderful outdoor space in which to plant.
