Thanks so much for your support during this challenging year. Your contributions have helped sustain our programs and support our hardworking staff. Please take a moment to check out our year end special letter and photo collage!
We know this is a difficult time for everyone. We are inspired, however, to continue providing resources for our Nearby Nature friends and families that will keep them connected to nature nearby both in real time and virtually throughout the coming year. Check out Nature-Schooling to see what we’ve got available in the coming months.
Use the links below — Memberships & Donations, Youth Scholarships, Park Caretaking, Learnscape, Special COVID-19 Donation, NCS Field Trips, or Community Friends — to make a secure online donation or payment via PayPal. One-time program-related payments or donations can be made via the “Other” category on the Memberships and Donations page. You can also send donations by mail to: Nearby Nature, P.O. Box 3678, Eugene, OR 97403.
You can also contribute as a volunteer or help through one of our Other Creative Ways to Contribute (Including Share When You Shop) below.
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Membership Benefits:
- FREE events (Nature Quests, Green Start Play Days, Citizen Science Saturdays, and Haunted Hike)
- Program and merchandise discounts
- Print newsletter plus monthly eNews
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We believe every child needs a chance to discover, learn, and grow in nature nearby. Can you help us make sure no child is left inside?
This fund provides financial assistance for children from low income families and schools to participate in our summer daycamps, school programs, No School Day Adventures, and more.
- $50 will pay for two 50% No School Day Adventure scholarships
- $100 will pay for a school field trip for 25 kids
- $250 will pay for a week-long daycamp scholarship
Your contribution of any amount will make a difference!
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Caring and advocating for our public parks is essential if we want them to be healthy, beautiful, and safe for visitors from all walks of life. Every year, hundreds of Nearby Nature volunteers spend thousands of hours on native plant restoration and litter patrol in Alton Baker Park.
Your contribution to our to our Park Caretaking Fund will help facilitate volunteer coordination, work party planning, native plant purchases, and more.
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Nearby Nature’s Learnscape Garden and Outdoor Classroom is a wonder! The site’s unique combination of gardens, outdoor playspaces, and models for living lightly provides a wonderful home base for many of our outdoor education programs.
You can help support the upkeep and continued enhancement of this amazing site with your donation to our Learnscape Development Fund. Your contribution will help us purchase needed gardening supplies, plants, and tools. It will also help pay for intern stipends and volunteer management.
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Help support Nearby Nature during this time of increased need for new program development and old program modification, reduced ability to host in-person events, and on-going financial uncertainty. There is a great need in our community for creative educational resources and outreach and we want to help! We can provide much needed Nature-Schooling assistance and new family/school outreach, but only if we can keep our “doors” open. Thanks for your support!
Keep in the mind the following regarding donations at this moment in time:
- Thanks to the Federal CARES Act, up to $300 per taxpayer ($600 for a married couple) can be donated to qualified non-profits like Nearby Nature by filers who take the standard deduction on their taxes. This “above the line” adjustment will reduce a donor’s adjusted gross income (AGI), and thereby reduce taxable income.
- Also part of the Federal CARES Act, individuals who itemize on their taxes can deduct cash contributions of up to 100% of their 2020 AGI, up from the previous limit of 60%.
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Support special not-so-nearby adventures for our Network Charter School students! NCS kids go on service learning field trips to places like Mount Hood in the fall and spring and take field trips to National Parks and Monuments in the spring. Your donation will help pay student fees for families in need as well as defray the cost of camping supplies, food, and transportation.
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Nearby Nature believes everyone in our community should have the opportunity to discover, learn, and grow in nature nearby. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, whether or not you own a car, or what your family looks like. Everyone needs nature.
Your purchase of a $55 Community Friends Membership will allow us to grant membership benefits to a family in need. That family will get to attend our Nature Quest, Green Start, and Citizen Science programs plus our Haunted Hike for free for the next year — plus get discounts on No-School-Day Adventures and Summer Daycamps!
Other Creative Ways to Contribute
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Here at Nearby Nature we have a “less is more” approach when it comes to shopping. We love thrift stores, sharing resources, and getting the most out of everything we already possess. However, everyone does buy new things from time to time.
So how can you share when you shop? Read on to learn about three ways you can support Nearby Nature without spending anything beyond what you already spend every day. Your purchases can help power our programs and allow us to serve 7,000+ kids, their teachers, and their families every year!
1. eScrip
Register your credit and debit cards at eScrip.com and designate Nearby Nature as the recipient of your donations. (Note: eScrip contributions can be split up to three ways just in case you are already supporting another group.) Each time you use a registered card at Market of Choice (or any of the other merchants listed on eScrip’s website), 2-4 % of your purchase cost will automatically go to Nearby Nature.
2. AmazonSmile
Go to AmazonSmile the next time you make an Amazon purchase (use your regular Amazon sign-in and password to log in). Look under Account and Lists for the Your AmazonSmile link. Choose Nearby Nature and 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products will automatically go to us. Remember to do this especially when you make significant purchases!
3. Fred Meyer Community Rewards:
How do you join? If you already have a Fred Meyer Rewards Card, go to fredmeyer.com/communityrewards and find the Re-enroll or link your Rewards Card now link. Choose Nearby Nature (LT795) as the benefactor of your Fred Meyer purchases and a percentage of each purchase you make will go to Nearby Nature. If you don’t have a Rewards Card already, you can get one the next time you shop at Freddie’s!
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Does your business support Nearby Nature’s mission? Would like your artistic creations to “contribute” to the community? Are you a musician or a writer whose tunes or tales feature nature nearby? If you answered YES to any of these questions, we hope you’ll become a Green Giving Partner.
Green Giving Partners support our mission by sharing skills (such as construction or design work) or donating a portion of their profits (over a period of time or on a particular product or service) to Nearby Nature. Some sponsor a specific program or project.
We are grateful to all our Green Giving Partners — past, present, and future — for their generous support. These donations help sustain everything from school programs to scholarships to park restoration projects.
To learn more about joining contact Director Beth Stein.
2019 Green Giving Partners
Capella Market
Cornucopia
Dave Walp, Naturalist
Down to Earth
Eugene Science Center
Falling Sky
Ian Whitelaw, Contractor
Kohl’s Associates in Action Program
Ninkasi Tasting Room
Quentin Furrow, Photographer
Sundance Natural Foods
Track Town Pizza, Franklin Blvd.
Village School
2018 Green Giving Partners
BRING Recycling
Capella Market
Corie Hinton, Talking Walls Murals
Dave Walp, Naturalist
Eugene Science Center
Ian Whitelaw, Contractor
Kohl’s Associates in Action Program
Ninkasi Tasting Room
Oregon Wine Labs
Quentin Furrow, Photographer
Track Town Pizza, Franklin Blvd.
True Value on Willamette
Village School
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Several times per year, Nearby Nature hosts benefit days at local restaurants and businesses. Check our calendar and this page frequently to learn about upcoming events!
Thanks to recent benefit day sponsors Track Town Pizza on Franklin, Ninkasi Tasting Room, Oakshire, Papa’s Pizza on 11th, Falling Sky, and Oregon Wine Labs.
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Every year at o
ur Haunted Hike in October, we sponsor a fun raffle. 50+ local businesses and individuals regularly contribute and friends and members win all sorts of great prizes — from nights out on the town to amazing artwork. Check out this year’s prizes to date below! THANKS so much to our generous donors! (Updated 10-13-19)
If you would like to buy tickets ($1 each, 6/$5, or 12/$10), give us a call at 541-687-9699. Need not be present to win! Each category has multiple chances to win. Just let us know which categories you would like us to put your tickets in when you call.
HAUNTED HIKE 2019 RAFFLE
1) Kid’s Corner (note that in this category you can try to win specific prizes)
a) Nearby Nature Kid-Sized T-shirt
b) Open Gym Gift Certificate from Bounce Gymnastics (10 chances to win)
c) Cute Beanbag Chicken by Borealis
d) Mount Pisgah T-Shirt
e) Subscription to Skipping Stones Magazine
f) $15 Gift Certificate to Potter’s Quarter
2) Family Fun
- Day passes for 2 adults and 2 kids to OMSI ($49.50 value)
- Family Day Pass to the Cascades Raptor Center ($30 value)
- 4 Day Passes to the Eugene Science Center Exhibit Hall & Planetarium ($32 Value)
- Family Membership to the UO Natural and Cultural History Museum
3) Night Out
- Two tickets to a UO Women’s Basketball Game Saturday November 16th
- Two WOW Hall tickets to Skizzy Mars with Yoshi Flower on November 2
- Two WOW Hall tickets to The Midnight Hour (jazz) on November 6
- Gift Certificate for Onsen Hot Tubs
- Gift Certificate from Actor’s Cabaret
4) Eats and Treats
- $25 Gift Certificate from Pegasus Pizza
- Gift Certificate for Two Dinner Entrées from the Glenwood
5) Take Care
- Gift Certificate for acupuncture from Turning Point Center (2 chances to win)
- Sixty minute facial from Bianca’s Esthetics
6) Go for Goodies
- $10 Gift Certificate to Off the Waffle (3 chances to win)
- $25 Gift Certificate from Sweet Life
- Bag of Goodies from Trader Joe’s
7) Theater and Art
- $50 Gift Certificate from the Shedd
- Two tickets from Oregon Contemporary Theatre to The Thanksgiving Play
- Family Membership to the UO Art Museum
- Gift Certificate to Very Little Theatre
8) Body Care and Wear
- Handmade Soap from Fridays at the Farm
- Gift Tray of Body Care Products from Uncommon Scents
- $30 Gift Certificate and Socks from Footwise
9) Nature Art
- Real spiderweb art by Chuck Roehrich
- Black Panther in black ink by Shane Slayer
- Owl Print in black ink by Shane Slayer
- Woodland Wreath by Grace Chollar-Webb
- Poetry book Hermit Thrush by Amy Minato
10) Eat Well
- $20 Gift Certificate from Cornbread Café
- $25 Gift Certificate from Tacovore
- Gift Certificate for Pizza from Za Cart Pizza (3 chances to win)
11) Get Out
- Eugene and Springfield Townscape Walks by Walk with Me
- William Sullivan’s 100 Hikes on the Oregon Coast and Coast Range
- William Sullivan’s Oregon’s Greatest Natural Disasters
- Family Membership to Mount Pisgah Arboretum
- $15 Gift Certificate from J Michael’s Books
12) Live Lightly
- $40 BRING Recycling Gift Certificate
- Native Plants donated by the Butler family (multiple chances to win)
- Nearby Nature Canvas Bag
- One adult monthly pass for LTD (two chances to win)
- Gift Coupons from MECCA
- $25 Gift Certificate to Vincent de Paul (two chances to win)
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Check out our wish list and let us know if you are able to help us with any of the needed skills below. Thanks!
Tech guru — to help us assess computers and decide how to upgrade.
Fruit tree pruners — to help us care for our Learnscape’s Food Forest.
Social media assistant — to help us develop “fun fact” Facebook posts.