Beech Creek Botanical Garden & Nature Preserve

Mission

We believe that quality of life and the health of the environment are interdependent and that an understanding of nature improves the lives of individuals. We provide educational opportunities and interactive experiences that inspire people to be good stewards of their communities and the world.

Organization Overview

We are an Independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Our vision is to educate, inspire and connect people with nature therefore improving one’s physical and mental health and overall quality of life. We reside on 181 acres of beautiful property which is 80% forested with several streams, a pond, and gardens. Our facilities and exhibit areas include a Visitor Center, Environmental Science Center, Butterfly House, Caterpillar Nursery, a 2-acre Nature Playground, Dr. Levi Lamborn Carnation Museum, Creekside Center for Water Sciences, four hiking trails, gardens, and a Raptor & Wildlife Sanctuary. We are open year-round with our educational activities, exhibits & experience areas changing with the seasons. We strive to offer nature experience opportunities in engaging & creative ways for everyone. Our seasonal events include in the winter “Handfeeding chickadees & Cool Adventures”, in the Spring “Art in Bloom”, in the Summer our Butterfly House, Day Camps, Critter Days, Literacy in the Gardens and so much more, in the Fall Spooky Science, at Christmas “Nature’s A-Glow”. In addition, we teach Environmental Science to over 2,000 K-12 students each year through School Field Trips. We are currently creating a half-mile long ADA wheelchair accessible nature trail, constructing a new 3,000sf Aviary, restoring a 3/4 -acre pond, and creating an Art Exhibit ‘Woven’ which will be an open air art museum. We: * Teach thousands of people, especially our youth about the Environment. * Improve mental health for thousands of at-risk teens through eco-therapy. * Inspire people to make better choices to preserve our world. * Preserve 181-acres of beautiful green space in Northeast Ohio. * Improve quality of life for thousands of homebound or assisted living elderly. * Engage people of all ages in outdoor, interactive, fun learning experiences. * Increase the understanding of the importance of biodiversity, pollinators, native plants, wildlife, water quality and preserving habitats. * Increase happiness and quality family time. * Improve physical and mental health for people of all ages

What would this endowment fund mean to your organization?

In our 3rd year as a nonprofit organization, we set a goal for a ten-million-dollar endowment. Even though we knew that this was a huge number to attempt to achieve, fiscally our preliminary plans would require such a number to be healthy and sustainable into perpetuity. During the past twenty years instead of working on building this endowment we have focused our time on our other goals of developing our programs and opportunities to connect people with nature. Now, more than ever, we are deeply concerned about growing our endowment to ensure the preservation of our programs and land for future generations. We believe the Stark Community Foundation plays a vital role in keeping Stark County a healthy community and a great place to live. You have been supporting the hundreds of nonprofit organizations which serve this community for six decades, thank you! You have a strong presence and a solid reputation county-wide. Unfortunately, even though we have been serving the community for many years, many people still have not even heard about us. We believe that having an endowment fund with your foundation would provide the Stark community with awareness of our organization and our mission. It would make visible our opportunities for serving, volunteering, and giving. We believe that we need this fund to further our goal of a ten-million-dollar endowment!

Information on this page was provided by the organization.