06 Sep Plant Buddies Inc. Origin Story
Plant Buddies Inc. 501(c)3 Non-Profit
The Plant Buddies Origin Story
Plant Buddies Inc. is our 501(c)3 non-profit & “Kids EntrePLANTneurship” since 3/30 2020 with a mission to remind and empower Students and Children about our natural and symbiotic connection to Nature and the air that we breathe.
In 2020 we delivered more than 75 oxygen rich indoor plants to Denver Public School classrooms. The selected cultivars were some of the best and most well researched indoor plants for purifying indoor air from pollutants.
Growing Your Kid In The Right Educational Garden
The idea of Plant Buddies was ignited on Thanksgiving in November 2019 when our 8 year old clearly communicated to us that besides the many good friendships, he was not happy with his current charter Denver down town school anymore that had no real outdoor recess area to run off all that excess energy that you naturally have being 8 years old. To be honest, every morning had turned rampant lately and was a daily dance with me and his Dad trying to convince him with our “poker faces” slapped on why kids have to go through the pain of early mornings, long days and public school pressure. Our son, who was a Free Agent all his life up until public school started, was simply not a vibrational match to this environment anymore. My mom-heart felt him to the core, but what to do?
And then, almost out of nowhere and with huge thanks to a dear sister and fellow mom, a public school Montessori option came on our family radar which was not only super close to our Denver home but he could also fill the spot of her daughter right away as they were moving to the mountains after Thanksgiving.
The school, interestingly enough called ‘Garden Place Academy’, located in Globeville in Denver is predominantly a Latin school community offering a warm and vibrant bilingual educational environment. After touring the school and meeting the friendly staff we fell in love with the community vibe that GPA offered but it bothered me that the school was located so close to the busiest highways, nearby fuming industries and the same area had just gone through a 20 years long clean up of the ground pollution coming from the historical activities from 3 big toxic smelting factories. Needless to say; the people and families that live and work in this area have been paying the consequences with their health for decades. The area has the highest rates of childhood asthma in Denver. To be even more precise, all parts of the 80216 zip code are at the highest “environmental hazard risk” of more than 8600 zip codes nationwide according to an official 2017 report as described by The Denver Post, June 30th 2019.
Plant Buddies Inc. Is Born
Our son’s choice to try Garden Place Academy was also the birth of Plant Buddies Inc., his very own “Kids EntrePLANTneurship” and nature-focussed non-profit with a mission to educate and empower kids with knowledge about some of the best indoor plants for purifying and oxygenating indoor air, plant care, cultivation and the importance of plants for human health.
Epic Flower Delivery at Garden Place Academy
Our son started his new learning adventure right after Thanksgiving in 2019 and in early January of 2020 we did our first flower delivery to all the lovely teachers and kids at Garden Place Academy. When the new semester started our Plant Buddies team had brought 75+ plants to be divided over the 18 classrooms including oxygen rich producing leafy species such as; Peace Lily, Golden Pothos, Snake Plant, English Ivy, and small palm trees. These cultivars are some of the most well researched plants for purifying indoor air.
Besides bringing Nature to Denver classrooms our mission was to spark awareness around the importance of clean air and the launch of our project lead to interesting class conversations about photosynthesis and our symbiotic relationships with plants, trees and the air that we breathe and how we exchange carbon-dioxide for oxygen with our “Plant Buddies”. One Friday, I had a proud-mom moment when our son won the weekly “Friday Roar Award” for his enthusiasm with the motivation from his teacher; “You teach both students and us teachers to be enthusiastic about plants and how to care for them.”
City of Denver Grant for our 1st TransPLANT … but then.
More amazing developments followed and after our flower delivery at the school we got a grant from our home town City of Denver to provide the school with; organic soil, pots, organic grow books in comics, tarps, mixing trays, and anything else we needed for our first “TransPLANTing lesson” with the students at Garden Place Academy. The idea was to bring in healthy organic soil for the kids to play with and grow out all our Plant Buddies, especially the vine species, and create beautiful breathing green walls at the school’s entrance.
… Sadly, this was the moment the Pandemic hit and we were not able to fulfill this last mission. Needless to say; Plant Buddies was born during a moment of divine timing with what has been playing out in the world.
The CONSCIOUS REMINDER for all of us is to stay connected with our planet Gaia and her nourishing life force; the soil, the plants, sun, air, and water. Sticking our hands in vibrant organic soil gives us an healthy exchange of immune boosting beneficial microbes and these smart soil critters brings us ancient wisdom in their DNA too. Nature is by large the strongest Antioxidant there is to keep the human body in good health and we are all equipped with innate tools such as THE POWER OF BREATH to help us tap into our biological systems. Access to clean water, clean air and clean soil is a birthright and lies at the core of human health.
At the end of February 2020 we took a major family decision to leave Public school for good and Plant Buddies Inc. is now a collective of free spirited parents and a “Kids Board of Directors”, and part of our Freeschooling Adventure.
Support our Kids Committee and their Parents and help us bring more oxygen rich plants to the educational Public School space. Learn more about how you can become a PlantGiving Donor HERE or simply click the button below.
Thank You!
Photo Credit © 2020 Garden of eDunn, All Rights Reserved.