2023-2024 Civic Projects

A Bouquet of Thanks - Honoring our Veterans

(An Ongoing Floral Project) 

Chair: Glee Logsdon

San Diego is home to the nation’s largest concentration of military personnel. More than 240,000 veterans have transitioned out of active duty and now reside in America’s Finest City. The Bouquet of Thanks Committee was established to donate seasonally appropriate flower arrangements, cards, and plants to honor and thank our veterans for their service and sacrifice.

Our committee delivers floral tributes to the Veterans Hospital in La Jolla to be enjoyed by veterans, their family members, and staff.

Our yearly projects include:

  • Succulent-Topped “Pumpkins for Patriots

  • Handmade, Personally Signed Holiday Cards with Poinsettias

  • Red, White, and Blue Flower Arrangements

  • One TBD offering – creative suggestions are welcome!

Funding pledged by generous donors during our annual membership renewal and throughout the year enables us to purchase supplies, plants, and flowers for our enthusiastic committee members to turn into wonderful gifts of thanks. We are grateful for your support of this worthy cause

Donation Form

Commemorative Tree Planting Program

An ongoing Civic Beautification tree planting project for the San Diego area

Co-Chairs: Penelope West and Kathy McKee

Planting trees to remember or honor someone, creates a living tribute to them - a legacy that lives on in the beauty of trees. Our mission is to use commemorative donations to plant trees on public land in San Diego that will provide needed year-round shade, beautify neighborhoods, provide habitat for wildlife and benefit the neighborhood in which people live.

Our true cost of planting a tree is typically about $350 because the trees we plant have to be large - 15 gallon or 24” box, and we must factor in the cost of delivery, irrigation and labor. However, we ask for donations of just $75 and pool the funds. No tree is planted for any one person and no plaque is placed on any specific tree, but donors will be invited to attend our spring Dedication Ceremony where we pay tribute to the people for whom trees were purchased. Invitations will include honored recipients and family members of recipients who are being commemorated.

The best times for planting are typically fall and spring; and City approval is required due to possible underground lines for utilities and such like. Recently we have partnered with the San Diego Parks Foundation and contribute trees to the community parks that they are upgrading. We work with professional arborists in selecting trees suitable for the location. The labor involved may be carried out by the City or a nursery or a landscape company.

To ensure that trees thrive, a plan for irrigation must be established prior to planting a tree. In some areas community volunteers agree to water the trees until they are established (about three years); in community parks the City is responsible for irrigation and maintenance; some local councils may also arrange a contract with a landscaper for weekly watering of their local street trees.

It takes many years for a tree to mature. The beautiful mature trees, whose shade and beauty we enjoy today, were planted as young trees by an earlier generation. By donating to this project now, we pass that gift forward to be enjoyed by future generations and ensure a legacy for those we wish to commemorate.

If you would like to plant a tree in memory or in honor of someone, or to beautify and “green” San Diego, please click the link below to access the donation form. We are a 501c3 organization, and all donations to this program are fully tax deductible.

Tree Donation Form
(ONline donating is not yet available)

Penny Pines

(An ongoing NGC and CGCI conservation project)

Co-Chairs: Linette DaRosa & Linda Karpowich

The Penny Pines Project was established in 1941 to assist in replanting burned and otherwise damaged forests. It now plays a vital role in renewing the national forests in California, which cover some 20 million acres, and includes a variety of terrain and vegetation types. These areas of great beauty and majestic stature are plagued by diverse problems, such as fire, pests, and disease.

Our club is one of many organizations supporting California’s Penny Pines Project. Over the years, groups have contributed more than $1M to the Penny Pines Reforestation Program, renewing 88,000 acres of national forest land in California!

In southern California, contributions may be used to prepare plantation sites for new trees, to plant seedlings grown in U.S. Forest Service nurseries throughout California, or to maintain existing tree stands and improve wildlife habitat. Penny Pines Plantations (350 trees on a little less than 1 acre) are important for watershed protection: helping the ground store precious water; for soil stabilization: protecting against soil erosion; and for shade in recreation areas: adding to the scenic beauty of the national forests.

At VGCLJ meetings, a collection bottle is available or circulated, and members are invited to contribute to the Penny Pines Reforestation Project from their change purse. Donations of a plantation ($68) in someone’s honor can also be made. For information contact the Penny Pines Co-Chairs. Thank you to our members who have generously contributed to this valuable project.

Donation Form

Schoolyard Gardening Grants Program

The Schoolyard as a Classroom
(An ongoing Youth-education Project)

Co-Chairs:
Leigh Hartman (Correspondence)
Mary Lippman (Grants)
Anette Gomez (Outreach)
Susan Vandenriesse (School Tours)

Teaching children the glory of nature is a wonderful way to inspire a love for gardening that will last a lifetime. The opportunity to plant and watch a flower grow, or pick a carrot to bring to the table, brings the wonder of nature closer to school children. Our Schoolyard Garden Grants program is dedicated to spreading this wonder to more schools every year.

Our Committee members review grant applications, conduct site visits, and inspire members to continue to donate to our Schoolyard Garden Grants Fund.

The grants support schools to provide a place and time for students to learn about healthy gardening practices. Students learn how to design and plan; amend the soil; plant, water, weed, and tend the crops; harvest; and prepare food for the table. Many of the gardens are a quiet, peaceful refuge to conduct reading groups, science lessons, culinary classes, and art projects.

Thanks to you, during the 2022/2023 fiscal year, our Schoolyard Garden Grants Committee awarded nearly $12,500 to 38 schools throughout San Diego County. The majority of our funding went to 27 Title I schools where greenspace is scarce, and children cope with high levels of poverty, including homelessness. We also supported 11 other neighborhood or local schools. The grants are designated for gardening supplies to help the schools provide a space where students can experience quietude and garden-based learning that segues into all other aspects of their education.

If you are interested in applying for a Schoolyard Gardening Grant, please click on the link below where you will find the application.  All applications must be received by October 15, 2023

Donations - Donations to this program are tax deductible and distributed annually.  Funding for this project depends on the generous donations of our members and others in our community who believe in this effort. By contributing to this program, you are helping to grow environmentalists of the future. We are grateful for the past support that has allowed our program to touch 1000’s of children throughout San Diego with the magic of gardening.  If you wish to donate to Schoolyard Gardening, please click below on the Gift Donation Form, for information about how you can help

2023 SCHOOLYARD GARDEN GRANT APPLICATION

Donation Form

Wreaths Across America

Co-Chairs: Karen Novak & Kate Engler

Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, the mission to Remember, Honor, and Teach is carried out by coordinating wreath- laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 2,500 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea, and abroad. This all-volunteer effort includes truck drivers who haul the wreaths to the National Cemeteries, volunteers who place the wreaths, and sponsors like our membership who donate both financial support and the wreaths. This year the wreaths will be placed on December 16th.

For each wreath sponsored through our club, we receive $5.00 for supporting their efforts in obtaining the donations. This year the deadline for sponsoring is November 27, 2023.

So, what does it mean to sponsor a wreath? It means you have the opportunity to join a grateful nation in saying “thank you” to our veterans. Your friends and associates can also sponsor wreaths through our club. We now have three options: online, mail, and by phone. Spread the word! Look for details in our fall issues of the Spindrifter, eblasts, and at the meetings.

Our goal this year is to sponsor at least 50 wreaths to commemorate our 50th anniversary

How to Donate a Wreath:

Go to the WAA website 

Select a cemetery and donate.

Currently you can select from our local cemeteries:
• Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
• Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary
• Miramar National Cemetery

As well as:
• Arlington National Cemetery
• Santa Fe National Cemetery
• Edgar Cemetery, AZ
• Choose another cemetery

By following these steps, the VGCLJ will receive credit for the donation. Wreaths Across America is a 501 (c) (3) organization.

For additional cemeteries, donations to a specific gravesite, or any other questions please contact:
Karen Novak, WAA Administrator for VGCLJ