Granted

As our friends in many parts of the United States are seeing an early spring--I've heard stories of blooming tulip trees in Tennessee and crocus flowers in New York's Central Park--Richard and I look forward to planting seeds and saplings in the next couple of months.

Jessica Bates, a good friend who interviewed us for Greenager.com and donated to our Kickstarter campaign, took this picture of a blooming tulip tree in Nashville recently! 

Thanks to hundreds of members, sponsors, in-kind donors and Kickstarter supporters, we already have most of the plants and materials to build a farm, nursery and four school orchards this coming spring. There are just a few crucial items we've been crossing our fingers for and hoping to receive before spring, which have been waiting patiently on the wishlist to the right of this screen for some time. But this week, we were finally able to take fencing off the list! 

Our wish for wire fences and wooden posts to protect our fruit tree saplings from deer was granted Friday evening with an acknowledgement letter from the National Gardening Association and Home Depot, our first grantors! We are happy to welcome these two organizations to our list of supporters.

We are excited not only to mark fencing off our wishlist, but also to feel more confident now in our grant-writing process. It has become clear over the course of our first year that it often takes money to...get a grant. Once foundations see that a non-profit has sustainable funding support through other foundations, companies and donors, they are more likely to invest in that mission. We are proud and delighted to have joined the ranks of deserving grantees, and all of our supporters will see great strides made with their donations from this year to perpetuity. 

I'd also like to emphasize that, under the title of "all of our supporters" falls a diverse array of contributors, including those financial donors named above...as well as those helping spread the word, like Jessica Bates did through the interview with Greenager, and like college student and friend Daniel Feller, who is coming to the ReTreeUS site this week to help build green roofs for our kiosks. (Find out more about our orchard signage at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/retreeus/creatively-educational-fruit-tree-orchard-exhibits.)

We couldn't do it alone, and we appreciate every dollar, every minute, every word that you can give.

As spring fast-approaches with our school orchard installation dates close behind, stay tuned to watch your support in full bloom!