Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Dispense with disposables. Restore with reusables. #GivingTuesday

Dispense with disposables. Restore with reusables.


What gets dumped on our streets and parks in just a short time ends up in our streams and rivers forever...unless there's a lot of time, effort and money expended to remove it.
With just a little money, the Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation hopes to pilot the promotion of bottle filler stations at Alexandria's most heavily used parks to help 'Kick the Habit'.



You contribution through Facebook today on #GivingTuesday will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $1k!! 
Coupled with a seed grant from the ActionAlexandria Green Ideas Challenge and the new Alexandria Park Community Matching grant program, we are all quickly heading in on the goal. Help tap the ball in!
(And if you can't get into position right now, please help find an opening to pass it on).


About this Fundraiser
In partnership with the Alexandria Soccer Association, The Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation is working to make single-use water bottles a thing of the past at Alexandria's athletic fields. 'Kick the Habit' is our effort to reduce a significant source of waste and litter--the reliance on single-use bottled water--by installing water-bottle and jug filling stations at the City's two highest-use fields, Simpson Stadium Park and Witter Fields. Alexandria Soccer already has water jugs/coolers, and its players have reusable bottles. Help fill them.

Contributions to 'Kick the Habit' will be matched dollar-for-dollar through a Community Matching Fund grant we have been awarded through the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities. Our fundraising goal for this campaign is $3,000. With the matching funds and existing commitments, this amount will bring us to the $10,000 project budget.

In honor of #GivingTuesday, the Gates Foundation will match donations to this fundraiser up to $1,000. Facebook is waiving all fees.




Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Thanks for Giving - The Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation

Formed in 2016, following years of community efforts to foster the preservation, beautification, improvement, maintenance, and enjoyment of Four Mile Run Park, the Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation already has been awarded grants that created a series of three events this Fall, engaging volunteers in conservation activities in Four Mile Run Park. Now, as they embark on a fundraising effort to help abate litter in our parks and streams, the Conservatory Foundation sends out this Thanksgiving greeting.


4MR Conservatory Thanksgiving.jpg

For the Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation's first Thanksgiving, we wanted to acknowledge and thank you for helping to make our first year a success. We are especially grateful for:

  • Volunteers who contributed more than 250 hours of their time to benefit Four Mile Run Park by participating in our programs, removing invasive species, planting trees, and beautifying the park.


  • Program partners: Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities, the Four Mile Run Farmers & Artisans Market, Jack Taylor's Alexandria Toyota, Trees Alexandria, TreeStewards of Alexandria/Arlington.

  • Individual donors who support our work through Spring2Action Alexandria, Razoo Foundation's #GivingTuesday, and AmazonSmile. With generous support from our park partners, we are 70% of the way toward our $10,000 ‘Kick the Habit’ fundraising goal to help eliminate litter by promoting re-usable water bottles. With these funds, the plan is to pilot the installation of bottle and jug filling stations.

We wish you a happy Thanksgiving!

Kurt Moser
President

P.S. Don't forget to check out our latest wildlife cam photos at www.fourmilerun.org!



About the Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation


The Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and volunteer organization formed in 2016 following years of community efforts to foster the preservation, beautification, improvement, maintenance, and enjoyment of Four Mile Run Park.
Our mission is to engage and educate the public, and to maintain the trail system and natural lands around lower Four Mile Run to improve Four Mile Run Park, and to foster respect and stewardship for this unique urban ecosystem and its natural, historic, and recreational resources. Our vision is a Four Mile Run Park that is fully utilized and appreciated by its neighbors and other stakeholders as an important part of community life, a resource for recreation, and a model for natural lands maintenance in an urban setting.



Monday, November 14, 2016

Four Mile Run Conservation Series: Wildlife, Thursday November 17th

The Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation hosts its final conservation series event centering on the wildlife of Four Mile Run, and they're seeking the involvement of community members interested in initiating citizen science programs to better understand the wildlife community in the park. 




Join them at 7pm on Thursday, November 17 at Jack Taylor's Alexandria Toyota for this final conservation series event  to, find out what they've learned about the wildlife of Four Mile Run Park, and how you can be involved in citizen science projects to identify and document the wildlife here.


Wildlife!

Below you'll find pictures of some of the wildlife of Four Mile Run Park, as captured by park visitors and our wildlife survey cameras. Click on any picture to enlarge it.


Conservation Series Continues

Basket making in the park
For those who have missed the Four Mile Run conservation series events so far, here is an update on activities at Four Mile Run Park. In late September, the Conservatory Foundation had an invasive vine removal and basketmaking event. Volunteers removed kudzu and porcelainberry vines, using the material to create marvelous works of art, with guidance from local artist Karen Brown on a warm and wonderful day out at the park.

Volunteers plant native trees
Then at the end of October, attention focused on trees, co-presenting on historic land cover and the forests of the Four Mile Run watershed with Alexandria Natural Resource Specialist Rod Simmons on Thursday, October 27, followed by a tree planting at the Edison Street entrance to the park on Saturday, October 29. In all, volunteers planted 24 native trees appropriate to the site. These included bitternut hickory, willow oak, pin oak, swamp white oak, sassafras, black gum, sweet gum, American hornbeam, American elm, and black walnut.

--------

The Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and volunteer organization formed in 2016 following years of community efforts to foster the preservation, beautification, improvement, maintenance, and enjoyment of Four Mile Run Park.

Their mission is to engage and educate the public, and to maintain the trail system and natural lands around lower Four Mile Run to improve Four Mile Run Park, and to foster respect and stewardship for this unique urban ecosystem and its natural, historic, and recreational resources. Their vision is a Four Mile Run Park that is fully utilized and appreciated by its neighbors and other stakeholders as an important part of community life, a resource for recreation, and a model for natural lands maintenance in an urban setting.

The Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation is grateful for program support in 2016 from: