Recently, I had a joyful lunch with Naples Garden Club scholarship recipients, Bo Cherry and Shelby Krupar (and about 1000 other sponsors, students, and faculty) at the Ritz Carlton. Standard lunch of chicken breast, greens and a roll followed by yummy crème brulée.
Bo is in the Honors College at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), majoring in Environmental Studies with a special interest in conservation and wildlife. He has spent time at Naples Botanical Garden working on a rooftop gardening project with Professor Brian Bovard.
Shelby is majoring in biology at FGCU and looking forward to grad school at UF and a career in botany research. Currently, she has been doing genetic analysis of Persea palustis at Naples Botanical Garden at the FGCU facility.
Spending time with Bo and Shelby left me feeling proud of them and our club’s contribution to their education.
In the past two years, Naples Garden Club has donated over $145,000 to lend our support to many worthy causes. Those include Avalon School Global Garden, Collier County Senior Resources, Friends of Fakahatchee, Friends of Foster Care, Grace Place for Children and Families, Habitat for the Humanity, Jewish Family Community Services, Naples Zoo, Butterfly Garden, Providence House, and Naples Botanical Garden internships and hurricane relief.