By Blandford Nature Center
Blandford Nature Center President and CEO Jason Meyer announced the completion of the $10.3 million ‘Growing Up Blandford’ campaign. It was anticipated that the goal would be met by September of this year.
“We are excited to thank everyone who supported this effort and to let the whole community know that we have been successful at starting the next chapter of Blandford’s story,” Meyer said. “We are also thrilled to announce that we surpassed our goal and raised over $10.6 million during this campaign.”
The campaign was launched in the fall of 2014 with lead gifts from founder Dr. Mary Jane Dockeray and the Wege Foundation. Since then, over 450 other supporters from around the world have joined the movement to help build the new Mary Jane Dockeray Visitor Center and grow the organization’s endowment fund. The campaign reached its goal early thanks to a generous gift from Linda Bleyerveld Weeks of Billings, Montana. Weeks was one of Mary Jane Dockeray’s “Rockhounds” from the early years of Dockeray’s career and they have remained friends for 69 years.
“I am so pleased to make this gift to honor my memories of Mary Jane and of the eight years I spent with her learning about geology. That was such an important part of my life, and I just want to be sure that Blandford’s programs continue forever so that other children can have these memories, too,” Weeks said.
In addition to the construction of the new visitor center and renovation of the former building into the Peter M. Wege Environmental Education Center, Blandford Nature Center acquired the former Highlands Golf Club earlier this year through a unique partnership with the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.
“The community has made it clear that exposure to nature is important in Grand Rapids, and we will continue to grow to meet that need,” stated Meyer.
Blandford Nature Center’s mission is to engage and empower our community through enriching experiences in nature. We envision a thriving, diverse community that supports a healthy, natural world. This is accomplished through an active outdoor environmental lab, a team of passionate, knowledgeable people, and a strong link from past to future promoting sustainability. Blandford offers a wide variety of educational and community programs to support this mission. For more information, please visit www.blandfordnaturecenter.org.
