After seeing the February 2011 Pantagraph article about native plants and Illinois Prairie Chapter, Children’s Foundation Trustee, Paul Van Ness, contacted President Sherrie Snyder about planning a butterfly garden for the children at their facility on 403 State St. in Bloomington. With a generous donation from Paul, chapter volunteers Sherrie Synder, Jack Pfaffmann, and Meredith Schroeer, designed the garden for the children’s playground area, selected and ordered the plants. a local Brownie troop help with mulching, planting, and watering. Over 250 plants (22 species) were planted at the site during Phase 1 of the project. In December 2011, Paul Van Ness presented the chapter with a beautiful plaque thanking us for our work on the garden. Under the guidance of Jack Pfaffmann in the Spring of 2012, chapter volunteers and the Brownie troop installed Phase II of the Children?s Foundation native garden, complete with a Serviceberry tree.
