Corporate sponsors and individual donors make an impact

Holden Forests & Gardens Twilight in the Amazing Woods summer benefit, July 2022.

Corporate Sponsors Make an Investment in Our Work

Thanks to dedicated sponsors, HF&G is able to provide environmental education to residents in Northeast Ohio and beyond.

Corporate sponsorship provides critical support of HF&G’s horticulture and collections work on more than 3,600 acres of forests and gardens. Sponsoring our exhibits and events connects corporations with over 18,000 member households and 275,000 visitors at the Holden Arboretum campus on the East Side and the Cleveland Botanical Garden campus in University Circle. Their partnership enables us to care for our extensive collections, which feature more than 20,000 plants and plant groupings. These collections not only connect people to the wonder, beauty and value of nature, but they support our efforts in conservation and research. Corporate Partners like Key Private Bank and Fleet Response, Oak Sponsors of our Twilight in the A-Mazing Woods event, have allowed us to provide both formal and informal environmental education programming to children, teens and adults in Northeast Ohio and beyond. Just Add Ice, Major Sponsor of Orchids Forever, has helped us engage new audiences in the region and nationally by providing an expert presenter for our Ask the Orchid Doctor series, which was streamed live and posted to our YouTube page. All of our corporate sponsors enjoy custom partnership benefits that empower them to be stewards of our environment and our community.

Ashton Technology Solutions Cherry Tree Clearstead CM Wealth Advisors The Davey Tree Expert Company Maloney + Novotny Oswald Companies Rockport Wealth Sherwin-Williams

Contact Samantha Lengel at 216-721-1600, ext. 125 or slengel@holdenfg.org to learn more and to develop a custom partnership opportunity to meet your needs.

Thank you to our Corporate Sponsors

August 1, 2021 – July 30, 2022

Philanthropy Supports Horticulture & Collections

Generous donors will help HF&G thrive today and well into the future

Many of the gardens at the Holden Arboretum and Cleveland Botanical Garden are possible due to the generosity of our donors. You’ll note signs naming gardens, trees, benches or planters as part of our tribute program. These gifts support the operations of the organization, including the important work of our horticulture & collections teams, while enabling a donor to memorialize a loved one or recognize a special occasion, such as an anniversary. To learn more about our tribute program, contact Lynne Robie, annual fund manager, at 216-707-2852.

While some donors choose to support our tribute program, others have made more significant gifts that directly impact horticulture & collections.

Many reading this will remember Eliot Paine. Eliot began his horticultural career at the Holden Arboretum in 1964, the seventh employee. He became director of the Garden Center (now known as Cleveland Botanical Garden) in 1970. After 13 years, he returned to the Holden Arboretum as director, following Henry Norweb, and was elected to the Board of Trustees after his retirement.

Eliot recently established a named endowment to support Horticulture at the Holden Arboretum.

Proceeds from the endowment support department costs such as the purchase of plants (annuals, perennials and woodies), materials needed like leaf mold and soil amendments, small tools and equipment purchases and other staff expenses including wet weather gear. Fourteen horticulturists and gardeners comprise the Horticulture team at the Holden Arboretum, with three arborists and four seasonals in Collections Maintenance, caring for approximately 200 acres and 20,000 Living Collection accessions in gardens, natural areas, grass and meadows within the Core, plus outer meadows and plantings.

“Curating a collection of living trees and shrubs from around the world is what distinguishes an arboretum from a park,” Eliot says. “I am happy to assist the effort.”

Linda and Eliot Paine in the Paine Rhododendron Discovery Garden.

Curating a collection of living trees and shrubs from around the world is what distinguishes an arboretum from a park.

Connie and Paul Abbey on the Norweb Tree Allée.

For Paul and Connie Abbey, current members of the board of directors, supporting the direct purchase of plants was of interest to them. Last year, they made a gift used to purchase newly grafted replacement crab apples for the research crab apple collection and woodies that are gradually forming the new hedging along the Tree Allée at the Holden Arboretum. The crab apple collection, along with over 200 trees at the Arboretum, had been damaged during the winter storm of 2020.

With Paul and Connie’s gift, we were able to graft new trees, prepare the ground and apply appropriate pest protection. The Tree Allée is undergoing a multi-year renovation (read more in Annie Rzepka’s article on pages 6 and 7). Their support will enable horticulture to appropriately schedule sourcing of the best material, plan thorough soil renovation work and purchase shrubs and materials needed for planting those shrubs. Connie adds, “Paul and I saw an opportunity to not only help fund an important Holden horticultural project but also to honor my father, R. Henry Norweb Jr., and the beautiful Allee that he always believed was needed to direct members and guests out further onto the property from the core areas.”