Bette Midler:Still doing my end of year match for everyone who donates @NYRP! Shake those piggy banks; every cent means a cleaner planet…
Mister D:Becca from NYRP contacted me about the Bette “Happy Birthday Fundraiser” in June. I first started promoting it in September until I got sick and had to go into the hospital, then The Bette-Midler Fan Site was kind enough to take over the promotion. So many kudos to them! Anyway, read the directions and give what you can. Thank you!
We are doing a special project again this fall, but not specifically for Bette’s birthday. We’re really excited about it ”“ it’s taking what we did last year one step further. As you remember, last year it was all about surprising Bette by bringing the beauty of our gardens out into the surrounding streets.
And as thrilled as Bette was with the results, she was even more thrilled when she found out that it sparked a much greater chain reaction: when community members saw what we were doing in and around our gardens, they were so excited that they started asking our crew for help with other spaces where they saw potential.
We ended up receiving so many requests that we decided to create a brand new program. We named it “Gardens for the City,” and we’re going to help communities transform open areas into gardens and productive green space by providing NYRP’s resources, from building and plant materials to expertise and labor. For this pilot season, we’ve chose these 5 projects that we hope to complete this fall:
Ӣ A vacant lot in Bedford-Stuyvesant, completely overgrown and filled with garbage, stymieing the efforts of a neighborhood working so hard to revitalize itself.
Ӣ A juvenile detention center for 12-17 year-old boys and girls in Brownsville striving to plant the spiritual seeds of hope and rehabilitation that will help these kids find a reason to rise above awful circumstances and make better choices for their lives.
”¢ A low-income housing development in the Bronx with the desire ”“ but not the resources ”“ to provide their residents with a safe and healthy backyard they can take pride in.
Ӣ An elementary school in Brooklyn hoping to reclaim an incredible but run-down and unusable greenhouse and create a space for education in biology, botany and the environment.
Ӣ A psychiatric center in Queens Village working to give patients and their families a space for tranquility amid beds of growing flowers and vegetables.
As you can see, it’s a really wonderful program!
Mister D:And this is where we, The BetteHeads, come in. NYRP has asked us to earmark our donations to this fabulous new program for Bette’s Birthday. And since NYRP is her pride and joy (besides me, of course!) I told them we would help, no probs.
You can donate any amount starting with a minimum of $10.00. It’s also worthy to know that $35.00 will buy you an annual membership to NYRP. Otherwise, the amount you give is totally up to you.
By using a credit card or paypal to make your donation make sure at the end of the process to write in the message box:
Happy Birthday Bette – Bette’s Gardens for the City
That way NYRP Knows to earmark the donation for Bette’s special project.
The birthday fundraiser will run up to December 31, 2011, so you have plenty of time. But if I were you I’d get it done so I didn’t have to worry about it.
