The Tree Bank Foundation and City of Edmond Receive $50,000 Grant
Oklahoma City Community Foundation Funds Centennial Arboretum
The Tree Bank Foundation and the City of Edmond are pleased to announce they have received a $50,000 grant from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation and its Margaret Annis Boys Signature Project Program. The grant will be used to assist in funding the Margaret Annis Boys Centennial Arboretum which will allow the Tree Bank and the City of Edmond to educate the public on proper tree selection, care, and planting techniques.
The grant will pay for the purchase of 275 trees to be planted along the newly constructed trail in Bickham-Rudkin Park. “We are so pleased to have received this grant and be a part of such a great project,” said Mary Gilmore Caffrey, Executive Director of the Tree Bank Foundation. “The Margaret Annis Boys Centennial Arboretum will be an incredible amenity for Edmond and all of central Oklahoma. We appreciate the support of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.”
The Margaret Annis Boys Centennial Arboretum began as a project of the Edmond Centennial Commission with the hope that the arboretum could be completed during the construction of a trail and pavilion renovation in Bickham-Rudkin Park. However, after budgeting for the project, the tree planting could not be accommodated in the first phase of construction.
A grant was written last summer as a partnership between the Tree Bank and the City of Edmond to the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to request that about 60 trees be planted in the new arboretum. After reviewing the grant request, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation decided the project qualified as a Margaret Annis Boys Signature Project and awarded $50,000 for the purchase and planting of all 275 trees planned for the entire project.
“We were so surprised and grateful that we were going to get the Arboretum accomplished within the Centennial year. We are grateful to the Oklahoma City Community Foundation for such a generous gift,” says Marilyn Kriedler, chair of the Edmond Centennial Commission.
June 29, 2009 will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Margaret Annis Boys. To acknowledge the significance of her beautification efforts, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation has established the Margaret Annis Boys Signature Project Program. Through the program, the foundation funds projects in parks and on public lands in Oklahoma City or Oklahoma County. Selected projects will include exemplary landscaping and enhancements to the area that will be considered permanent improvements to the site. The grant to the Tree Bank and the Edmond Parks Department is the first Margaret Annis Boys Signature Project.
Founded in 1969, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation manages more than $540 million in assets and is ranked as one of the top 25 community foundations in the country. The Oklahoma City Community Foundation works with donors and organizations to create endowments that address needs and opportunities within the community. Grants are awarded through the Community Grants Program three times a year to metropolitan area charitable organizations. For more information about the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, its Community Grants Program and the Margaret Annis Boys Signature Project Program, visit www.occf.org
Other major contributors to the project include the Edmond Parks Foundation, the Tree Bank Foundation, and Edmond Electric. The contributors enabled the project to expand and to include signage, irrigation, and benches.
Issued: November 28, 2007
